Grey-shaded anchor tattoo with coiled rope and blue flowers on the top of a foot, with script lettering on the anchor stock.

Anchor and blue flowers on a foot

Traditional · Other · Mixed · Photo

A shaded anchor with a coiled rope runs up the top of the foot, with a small script inscription on the crossbar. Blue flowers, including lily-like blooms and small sprigs, wrap around the anchor shank and lower flukes. The anchor is rendered in black and grey with soft shading, while the flowers add the only colour against the skin.

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Nell, the tide came in twice while I was writing this, so forgive the blots. They have us tying knots on the foredeck from dawn until the bell, and my hands look like a fishwife's, but the mate says I splice a rope better than any boy aboard, which is a compliment from him, believe it or not. Tell your father the Corinthian is holding her course well and we have not lost a single barrel of salt pork to the rats this voyage.

Keep reading

I am sending you the flower seeds you asked about, the blue ones that grow in the lee of the harbour wall at Porthleven. I pressed a few between the pages so they would survive the damp. The lilies here are not like ours. They climb the rigging in the afternoons when the wind drops and the whole ship smells of them, and the old hands say it is bad luck to cut them down. I have decided to believe the old hands.

When the anchor goes down at Lisbon I will be the one at the windlass, counting the links out loud the way Grandfather taught us, so you will know I am not drowning in anything except good work. Keep the letters in the tin with the blue ribbon. I will come up the lane with a bag of oranges and a story you will not believe, and you can tell me which parts are lies.

Your loving brother, Tom

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