The History Girls: Victorian Tattooed Ladies: Circus freaks or pioneering feminists? by Katherine Clements
Artoria Gibbons
The history of tattooing goes back to prehistory but the English word, in this context, is first attested in the writings of Captain Cook. An entry in Cook’s ship’s log of 1769 refers to male and female ‘tattooed savages’ in Polynesia, proudly displaying their tribal marks:
“Both sexes paint their Bodys, Tattow, as it is called in their Language. This is done by inlaying the Colour of Black under their skins, in such a manner as to be indelible.”
Many of Cook’s men returned to England with tattoos they’d…
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Rogues & Vagabonds 
Thanks for posting a link to this interesting piece. I have several tattoos, so it’s nice to find out about some of the historical background of the practice gradually making itself into the mainstream over the decades & centuries.