[Hong Kong: Poetry] In Loving Memory of Drummer Flowers, Who Departed This Life on the 14th of March 1897 at Hong Kong.

WALLACE, PT. A.

Published by (Circa1897)., 1897

About this Item

Single leaf, bifolium (33 x 20.3cm] and folded to letter size, manuscript poem in sepia ink in 37 lines completed on two sides, watermarked lined paper (an elephant with a sedan chair and a printers' device), slightly dusty but in good order. The sad tale of Drummer Wallace who perished on the Happy Valley sporting ground in 1897. This tribute by his regimental friends: "composed by Pte. A. Wallace. 1st West Yorkshire Regt." and "copied by Pte. A. Gowan 1st Bath. Middx Regt." is a stirring ephemeral survival. The poet refers to Flowers' death as a loss for the "prince of Wales Own": this honorific was given to the Regiment following action in the Crimea, the name The Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regiment) conferred in 1881. To die in glory on the football field was likely a mercy--the Regiment was to serve a lengthy term in the Second Boer War in 1899 and then in the Great War. Drummer John Flowers was buried in the Hong Kong Cemetery. His headstone erected by his friends survives: he was 16 years old, the poet informing us that "he had served with us well nigh three years". Seller Inventory # 173660

Bibliographic Details

Title: [Hong Kong: Poetry] In Loving Memory of ...

Publisher: (Circa1897).

Publication Date: 1897