Death Or Glory
This is an image steeped in history, some of which explains why I've chosen to carry it with me for years, and to have it permanently inked into my flesh. It originates from the regimental badge of the 17th Light Dragoons first formed in 1759 following General Wolfe's death in Quebec, with the regiment's motto of a Death's Head and the words 'Or Glory' chosen in commemoration of him. It was the first cavalry regiment deployed in the American War of Independence. In October 1854, as the 17th Lancers, the regiment charged in the front line of the Light Brigade at Balaklava, earning three Victoria Crosses but losing many men dead or wounded. The regiment was amalgamated with the 21st Light Dragoons (later known as the Empress of India's Own Lancers) in 1922 to become the 17th/21s Lancers and in 1993 this regiments was amalgamated with the 16th/5th (The Queen's Royal) Lancers, and the badge changed slightly to reflect it.
The most famous exploit of this regiment was of course leading "The Charge of the Light Brigade", a feat of arms immortalised by the poem written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. This poem is the source of not only personal inspiration, but also a very common phrase "ours is not to reason why, our's is but to do or die" is actually a paraphrase of the passage in the poem:
Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die:
As stated, the poem is inspirational and carries a message of valour in the face of death, something shown more succinctly in the image (or "the motto" as it's commonly referred to).
So we come to the tattoo itself. I took this original image:
And fucked with it in photoshop until I'd removed the background, greyscaled it, and generally gotten it looking good enough to be used as flash, with this as the result:
Which I then printed out in the size I wanted and took down to Jeff at the Portsmouth Tattoo Studio. Asked him if he could put it on my right shoulder, nice piece of greyscale work (I dislike bright primary colour tats just as much as I dislike the solid block "tribal" and "celtic" styles. I'm a shady person), and this was the result. this photo was the best of the bunch taken when about 30mins after it was finished, but lots of iritation and bruising are clearly visible. I'll take some more now they've settled in.
and now it's settled in:
