Inking in the Past

Inking in the Past

Noel Laflin

5-18-15

My nephew, Matt, has it in mind to get a tattoo of our family’s coat of arms.  He called me just the other day to discuss the matter.

“You know, Matt,” I began, once he’d outlined his intentions, “I don’t think our family really qualifies as one deserving a coat of arms, being that we are not of royal decent and all that.  And according to your great grandfather, the fact that the family’s roots in this country were originally planted here by a poor Scotsman brought to the New World as an indentured servant, probably doesn’t bode well for future inclusion into an aristocratic family as well.”

The boy conceded that - and then wondered whether there might be some old Scottish clan that we can trace back to.  There are some cool family crests out there, he bargained, hoping that wherever we landed, it might provide a nice tattoo design.

And, he is right about that.  After some quick and dirty research, there is a cool Scottish clan crest that we might claim by distant right.

But I cautioned my nephew to hold off for now as we need to be a little more certain that our name has its roots in Scotland versus Ireland, for the Irish Laflin crest is totally different and would require a lot more red ink.

 

And unless he intends to have the tattoo placed on his entire back, I don’t think there is enough room for the Irish version to go elsewhere.

I have contacted our cousin, Kathy, as she has done a lot of the Laflin family ancestry background already.  Here’s hoping that she can ink in the past more thoroughly than the scant information we currently have at hand.

After all, tattoo removal is not all that fun I’m told.

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May 19, 2015

Post Script: After much research, thanks in large part to our cousin, it's now apparent that we Laflin's are of Irish descent.  And a coat of arms was actually used by our distant ancestor, Charles Laflin, once he reached the New World in 1740.  He chose a simple black fleur-de-lys on a light background - as we Laflin's were of French descent long before we were Irish. 

 Well, who'd a thought ...

A fleur-de-lys will be a lovely tattoo - and much less body mass is needed as a canvas.

I just let nephew Matt know.