Scottish tattoo history

[Stewart Robson]

Thanks @telbhoy

Threads and posts like this remind me of the true value of Last Sparrow and are exactly why I keep returning to this site and attempting to post intelligent and thought-out responses.

[CultExciter]

I've always been curious as to why and if any connections were between American and European tattoo artists. Being from Virginia, Cap Coleman is a name we revere around here, but does anyone know if there was any trading of imagery between the US and UK. I'm also really interested in how this occurred with various grindcore/death metal bands in the 80s/90s...so, here's hoping it was a tradition...

[Graeme]

I came across this about Professor Tom Riley in George Burchett's Memoirs of a Tattooist:

"Tom, as I later came to know him, was a Yorkshireman who, like most tattooists, began his craft while he was still in the Forces. Having made a tidy sum by tattooing Army officers and men during his service, he bought himself out--a considerable feat for a ranker in those days--and went back to his home town, Leeds. There he took drawing lessons at the Mechanical Institute and later opened his first workroom in Liverpool's dockland. After a time he moved to Glasgow, whence his fame spread rapidly. He was offered an engagement as resident tattooist at the Royal Aquarium in London, where as a boy I had been a billiards-maker. Subsequently, he started his own surgery in the Strand. Now he was able to build up his clientele of society people and his own name became one to conjure with. Eventually he was employing his younger brother, also an admirable craftsman, as manager of the London interests while he, as the famous Professor Riley, travelled all over the world."

@CultExciter A few pages after that Burchett talks about how Prof. Tom Riley was brought to America by P.T. Barnum (Barnum gave Riley the title 'Professor') so there is a direct UK-US link there, but I agree that the origins and exchange of tattoo imagery is fascinating and I'd love to learn more about it.

[Graeme]

Bunch of old Scottish tattoos here:

Mike Bialek's instagram

One that was likely done by Jimmy Todd:

[temporarytattoo]

You had given an good strategy about the tattoo artist and thanks for making an good idea.