Lynn Lyster was the pseudonym of Thomas Leander Millar (1856-1925), an early South African poet best known for his dramatic ballads capturing the pioneer history, conflicts, and landscapes of South Africa.
1.) "WITH CHRISTMAS GREETINGS" - FLAG LYRICS. DEDICATED TO THE NATAL VOLUNTEER FORCES (1899)
First edition published in Durban, Xmas, 1899.
Card covers bound with red ribbon. Gilt page edges.
10pp.
This small Anglo-Boer-War-related Christmas greeting card/booklet appears to be Lyster's earliest publication. SABIB only records a single copy, which is a second edition with 19 leaves, published by P. Davis & Sons, Maritzburg, and dated 190-?
It is very scarce.
2.) BALLADS OF THE VELD-LAND (1913)
First edition published by Longmans, Green and Co., London, 1913.
Publisher's maroon cloth binding with gilt titles on front panel and spine.
viii + 145pp.
Binding sound. Contents clean.
This remains Lyster's most prominent work. It is a collection of musical, stirring ballads celebrating historical figures, colonial-era battles, and the shared histories of the pioneers and warriors who shaped South Africa.
Quite a few titles of poems on the contents page immediately catch the eye, such as:
The Hero Woltemade; The Voortrekkers' Vow; Dirk Uys; The Ballad of Dick King's Ride; The Wreck of the Troopship "Birkenhead"; The Queen's Colour of the "24th": A Ballad of Isandhlwana; Rorke's Drift; The Shangani Patrol; The Mazoë Patrol; How Piet the Hottentot rode from Mazoë; etc.
Dedicated to the memory of Field-Marshall Lord Roberts' son, who fell in his gallant attempt to recover the lost guns at Colenso.
- Binding Condition: Very Good
- Overall Condition: Very Good
