A swallow is one of the traditional sailor tattoos. Not a gull or cormorant - but a bird living on dry land. Why?
Tattooing is an ancient tradition. Truly ancient! Ötzi the Iceman, who emerged from a melting glacier in the Ötztal Alps in Tyrol in 1991, had 61 tattoos, and he lived over 5,000 years ago.
Ötzi adorned himself with parallel lines and crosses. Check a sailor’s body, and you'll find tall ships, anchors, roses, pin-up girls, lighthouses - and swallows. Swallows, not seabirds!
An experience aboard Statsraad Lehmkuhl during the leg from Reykjavik to Nice might help explain why. When the ship was west of Ireland, swallows landed on board.
– They sat on deck, and did also go inside the banjard and the chart house on the poop deck, probably to rest and warm up, says Matteo Baratella, content producer on board, and the one who took the photos of the swallows.
Shy birds
Swallows are shy birds, but as the photo of Jérôme Lemelin shows, these were unafraid. Matteo is probably right - they were exhausted.
The swallows that stopped to rest were barn swallows. Clumsy on the ground but acrobatic in the air, they hunt insects mid-flight. Out over the open ocean, insects are scarce. The swallows were not looking for food, they were on their way from southern Africa to Europe.
Barn Swallows nest as far north as Finnmark in northern Norway, but spend the winter south of the Sahara. They arrive in Europe in May and leave in September. Despite weighing only about 20 grams, the birds migrate 10,000 kilometers twice a year.
A badge of honor
Researchers have managed to map the routes the swallows take, and found that they prefer to fly over land. But rough weather can blow the tiny birds off course over the sea, where they’ll gladly take the chance to rest if a ship appears.
For sailors, such visits are a welcome break, and they’ve been impressed by the strength of these tiny birds and their ability to find their way home after flying such incredible distances. No wonder they picked swallows as the symbol of endurance.
A swallow tattooed on the chest or arm shows you are just as enduring, and have sailed 5,000 nautical miles. Two swallows? 10,000 nautical miles - about halfway around the Equator.
It hurts
The word “tattoo” comes from Samoa, where tatau means “to strike.” That’s how tattoos were traditionally made, by tapping ink into the skin with a stick and needle. Today, vibrating needles are used for greater precision, and many tattoos are true works of art. But it still hurts.
Sailors brought the tattoo tradition back with them from Pacific voyages in the 1500s, using tattoos as a kind of logbook of their experiences.
Symbols
A swallow shows how far you’ve sailed, and a full-rigged ship on your shoulder means you’ve rounded Cape Horn. A turtle means you’ve crossed the Equator, a dragon means you’ve sailed to China, and a hula girl means you’ve sailed to the Pacific.
Tattoos also tell what your role on board is. Two cannons means you serve in the navy, two crossed anchors that you are a bosun. A rope tattooed around your wrist show that you work on deck, a red devil that you work in the engine room. A dolphin or shark are used by submarine crews.
Some tattoos have more subtle meanings.
A rose pierced by a dagger means you’re a fighter, not afraid of destroying even beautiful things if needed. A dice show you’re not afraid of taking risks. A mermaid? That you love the sea above all else.
And there are more:
A pin-up? Simply a reminder of what waits ashore. An anchor on your arm protects you, a lighthouse or star helps guide you home. A pig or rooster on your foot was considered lucky if you shipwrecked. These animals were often carried aboard in wooden crates for food, and if the ship went down, sometimes those crates floated ashore saving the animals. The tattoo was meant to ensure the same good fate for the sailor.
Source: Yachting.com
