Great Britain -- Social conditions -- 19th century; London (England) -- Description and travel
A sailor had these devices on his right arm. ‘Our Saviour on the Cross,
the forehead of the Crucifix and the vesture stained red; on the lower
part of the arm, a man and woman; on one side of the Cross, the
appearance of a half moon, with a face; on the other side, the sun; on
the top of the Cross, the letters I.H.S.; on the left arm, a man and
woman dancing, with an effort to delineate the female’s dress; under
which, initials.’ Another seaman ‘had, on the lower part of the right
arm, the device of a sailor and a female; the man holding the Union Jack
with a streamer, the folds of which waved over her head, and the end of
it was held in her hand. On the upper part of the arm, a device of Our
Lord on the Cross, with stars surrounding the head of the Cross, and one
large star on the side in Indian Ink. On the left arm, a flag, a true
lover’s knot, a face, and initials.’ This tattooing was found still
plain, below the discoloured outer surface of a mutilated arm, when such
surface was carefully scraped away with a knife. It is not improbable
that the perpetuation of this marking custom among seamen, may be
referred back to their desire to be identified, if drowned and flung
ashore.
It was some time before I could sever myself from the many interesting
papers on the table, and then I broke bread and drank wine with the kind
family before I left them. As I brought the Coast-guard down, so I took
the Postman back, with his leathern wallet, walking-stick, bugle, and
terrier dog. Many a heart-broken letter had he brought to the Rectory
House within two months many; a benignantly painstaking answer had he
carried back.
As I rode along, I thought of the many people, inhabitants of this mother
country, who would make pilgrimages to the little churchyard in the years
to come; I thought of the many people in Australia, who would have an
interest in such a shipwreck, and would find their way here when they
visit the Old World; I thought of the writers of all the wreck of letters
I had left upon the table; and I resolved to place this little record
where it stands. Convocations, Conferences, Diocesan Epistles, and the
like, will do a great deal for Religion, I dare say, and Heaven send they
may! but I doubt if they will ever do their Master’s service half so
well, in all the time they last, as the Heavens have seen it done in this
bleak spot upon the rugged coast of Wales.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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