They got off, however, and, gaining the shelter of the Cro' Martin wood, they managed to escape at last, and reached this about six o'clock, their clothes in tatters, their horses lamed, and themselves lamentable objects of fatigue and exhaustion.
"The Martins Of Cro' Martin, Vol. II (of II)"
Charles James Lever
Our stockings were in tatters.
"My Attainment of the Pole"
Frederick A. Cook
We have parted with the idea that an author must be tearing a passion to tatters, or telling a story, or uttering a complaint, in order to produce poetry.
"The Literature of Ecstasy"
Albert Mordell