Q2. What do Billy Bones' tattoos say about him? Chapter 2

It was tattooed in several places. ‘Here’s luck,’ ‘A fair wind,’ and ‘Billy Bones his fancy,’ were very neatly and clearly executed on the forearm; and up near the shoulder there was a sketch of a gallows and a man hanging from it—done, as I thought, with great spirit.

‘Prophetic,’ said the doctor, touching this picture with his finger. ‘

In context, we learn that Billy Bones is a seamen, a kind of gambler, and from the gallows.... that he is likely involved in criminal activity.

Luck is self-explanatory, a fair wind relates to weather that is favorable for sailing, and the gallows..... they are a symbol of death and punishment for criminal acts.

The tattoo of a gallows And man hanging from it doesn't necessarily denote criminal activity., but simply a hard life. A dangerous life one lives. I've seen one on some seamen in the seventies And the gallows tattoo was quite popular. Also the serpent coiled around a dagger. Or a dagger through a heart. The hard life some men live is wrought with danger and death is a likely part of it