Thanks. The tat says "Fortis sed non-ferox," which is from our old family crest from the 1400's. It means "strong, but not ferocious," which is supposedly how the king described some ancestor's character. There's a whole big story behind it.

EGADS I wish I could go back that far with my family history! WOW...and thank you.

Yeah... my grandmother actually went over to England back in the 70's (pre-internet days) and traced it all the way back to the 1400's by hand. The saying on the crest stemmed from my ancestor responding to an attack on the way home from the Crusades. Pretty interesting stuff, and my grandmother was a pretty amazing woman.

Yeah. I'm lucky. My grandmother put together a book and had a copy printed for each of us. It's full of the lineage, stories of old relatives, and really old photos. It's pretty fun and interesting to go through.