East Ind. Also 8 tatoo, 9 tatto, tattu, (tut-hoo). [a. Hindī ṭaṭṭū.] A native-bred Indian pony. Also attrib. as tattoo horse, mare. Abbreviated TAT (sb.4).
1784. in Seton-Karr, Select. fr. Calcutta Gaz. (1864), I. 15. On their arrival at the Choultry they found a miserable dooley and 15 tattoo horses.
1800. Misc. Tr., in Asiat. Ann. Reg., 171/2. A man mounted on a tattoo came forward to tell us, that [etc.].
1809. Broughton, Lett. Mahratta Camp, xiv. (1892), 117. These tut,hoos are a breed of small ponies, and are the most useful and hardy little animals in India.
1814. Southey, in Q. Rev., XII. 200. A Mahratta wife … frequently rides astride … upon a bullock, an ass, or a little tattoo horse.
1886. Blackw. Mag., Sept., 365/1. Drawn by tattoos and bullocks.
