The swallows journey. Clues to the self, embedded in the skin.

When I was about 15 years of age, I had a swallow tattoo on my shoulder. Of course it is unacceptable that a young girl should have a tattoo at that age now, but at the time I was very conscious that I wanted one. A small one, and it should be a swallow. I didn't know at the time really, the "why?" could have been down to a deep rebelliousness that needed expression.

However over the years, it has always been part of my skin. In years since I think I have come to understand it better in hindsight.

A swallows journey is long and difficult and that is why sailors liked to have the swallow tattoo to show their strength in overcoming a long and difficult journey.

So my choosing to have a swallow tattoo, means that I knew that it was going to be hard journey, but
perhaps I knew it was going to be my last.

Swallow tattoo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shoulder tattoo

The swallow tattoo was a symbol used historically by sailors to show off their sailing experience. Of British origin in the early days of sailing, it was the image of a barn swallow, usually tattooed on the chest, hands or neck. According to one legend, a sailor tattooed with one swallow had travelled over 5,000 nautical miles (9,260 km); a sailor with two swallows had travelled 10,000 nautical miles (18,520 km).^[1][2] Travelling these great distances was extremely difficult and dangerous in the early days of sailing, so one or more swallow tattoos denoted a very experienced and valuable sailor. Another legend holds that since swallows return to the same location every year to mate and nest, the swallow will guarantee the sailor returns home safely. A sailor would have one swallow tattooed before setting out on a journey, and the second swallow tattooed at the end of their tour of duty, upon return to their home port. It is also said that if the sailor drowns, the swallows will carry their soul to heaven.

The swallow also represents love, care and affection towards family and friends, showing the loyalty of the person always returning to them. The bird also represents freedom and hope.^{[citation needed]}

Today, the symbol of the swallow can mean many different things. It is considered a staple of the "British Traditional" and "Sailor Jerry Collins" style tattooing.

Some ex-Sailors of the British Royal Navy have a swallow tattoo on both wrists as a symbol of a successful voyage.^{[citation needed]}

Another coined term in the UK for the swallow tattoo on the hands is a symbolism of a prison sentence from an ex-con to the meaning of "done your bird, done yourtime".^{[citation needed]}

Swallow Medicine		Lead	[-]
	TAGS : None Swallow Medicine  *Patricia Telesco/The Language of Dreams:  The arrival of this bird in spring makes it an envoy of hope and new opportunities. In heraldry, the swallow represents conscientious attention to duty. China: a symbol for daring and fearlessness. Also a stern protector of marital fidelity. Biblical (Old Testament): Communications, sometimes those with little meaning. In this setting, the swallow is called a chatterer.

The Swallow's Migration: An Epic Journey

Updated on September 23, 2012

Swallows and Cows

Swallows swooping around the legs of Friesan Cows.

British or South African?

Here in Britain, we have a tendency to think of swallows as being on of our own, our personal property. When they first individuals start filtering back into the UK around the end of April, we always think of them as coming back to their rightful home. We observe them swooping over fields of long grass and dodging the black and white hulks of Friesan cows and consider it to be quintessentially English. We rejoice at our first sight of them, as we know that the short, dark and gloomy days are coming to an end, summer and all the delights that come with it is just round the corner.

But there is another country where the swallows return is also rejoiced and heralded as the start of the summer season; it's in a different hemisphere, South Africa, there it's November and December when the swallows are 'welcomed home'. it seems that this well travelled bird is welcomed almost anywhere it goes in the world, and is thus universally popular across both hemispheres.

A traditional end of Summer sight in Britain and Europe

Swallows congregating on telephone wire in the early stages of their journey.

Start of the Journey

In recent years, a great deal of research has been conducted to uncover the secrets of the more mysterious aspects of a swallow's life, the annual journey that it makes from its northern breeding grounds to its southern wintering grounds. Thanks to the work of bird ringers, who fit an individual with a ring in the hope it will be recovered in some far flung place, we can at least piece together more or less the entire route from Britain to South Africa.

The swallows remain around their breeding sites until the end of August, this is the month that marks the start of the journey south. Initially they will make a few short hops of a few miles, to places where they can roost safetly at night, this is the time when we see flocks of swallows perched on telephone wires twittering to each other and shifting about restlessly. Progress is slow, usually taking them about a month or even two to reach the English Channel, which isn't too much of a hinderance because for them it's a short hop of around 20 miles of water. Next, they proceed down a strip of coastal France about 60 miles wide. By now, they've been on the go for several weeks and they are starting to make faster and faster progress, buoyed by good fat reserves collected en route and a slow and steady start.

When they reach the Pyrenees Mountains that divide France and Spain, they make a surprising decision, instead of just flying straight over the mountains they head eastwards along the northern rim until they reach the Mediterranean coast. At this point some swallows may fly down along the eastern coast of Spain, passing over the iconic city of Barcelona, while others will strike out over the sea towards Africa, with a brief pit stop in the Balearic Islands.

A lone Swallow flying over the Desert

Source

• Nigerians' taste for a bird proves hard to swallow - World - News - The Independent
  A report from the Independent highlighting the slaughter of Swallows at Ebok Boje.

Into Africa

Whichever route the swallows decide to take, they must cross the Mediterranean to reach North Africa and the ever looming Sahara Desert. The birds however, have been expecting a major barrier and are instinctively prepared for it. It seems, from the research and data collected, that the desert doesn't pose as much of a problem for them, as you might think. They complete the Saharan section with little fuss and in one long haul, although a few elect to travel along the fringe of the west coast of North Africa, perhaps flying over the Pyramids at Giza.

The next stage of the journey sees our swallows venture into West Africa, to be more precise Nigeria. Here, they encounter their toughest hazard thus far, a hazard of gigantic proportions. At a place called Ebok Boje, one of their stopping off and roosting spots, over a hundred thousand swallows are killed for human consumption, in what is an annual tradition. They are captured at night, while roosting in tall elephant grass. It's a place of great peril for swallows travelling from all over Europe, and there may be other sites where similar slaughters are occurring that haven't been documented.

Once the hazards of West Africa are behind them, the trail goes temporarily cold. From Nigeria, they may move east and south towards the giant forested belt of Central Africa, to places so remote that, no European has ever set foot there. I can imagine them passing over the heads of okapis, forest elephants and chimpanzees. As they go, they sweep up tropical insects that humanity has never seen, let alone described. Or perhaps, they jump from open space to open space, brushing past giraffes, savannah elephants and lions. Whichever way they go, by now they are coasting along nicely, managing many miles a day, as their final destination draws ever nearer.

Swallows roosting in reedbeds

Swallows taking the opportunity to rest after finally reaching South Africa.

Swallow Migration Map

A map from the BBC showing the route taken by tracked Swallows in 2009. | Source

The End

In just a few short weeks, the vast tropical forests are behind them, and they enter more open country, typical of Southern Africa. The swallows continue to press on, but they are preparing to stop, instinctively they know they are close to the end of the journey. No one quite knows how they do it, but somehow the swallows know to stop in just the right place, few if any fly out beyond the Cape and into the vastness of the Southern Ocean.

So, finally after four months, just as Christmas is rolling round for us in the north, they finally reach their destination, which is usually Botswana, Namibia or South Africa. The swallows have swapped hemispheres and returned to their favourite season, summer. Once in their wintering grounds, they take opportunity to moult, and cross paths with other swallows that have travelled from all over Europe.

The swallow's epic journey south lasted four months from September to December, it was mostly quite a leisurely affair, but after just two months of filling their bellies with African insects, they must begin the equally epic journey back to Europe. The journey north is a much different proposition, instead of a leisurely pace, the pace will be frantic, as they race to get back to their breeding grounds.