| Davy Jones' locker | |
|---|---|
 Davy Jones' Locker, byJohn Tenniel, 1892 | |
| First appearance | Four Years Voyages of Capt. George Roberts (1726) |
| Genre | Nautical folklore |
| In-universe information | |
| Type | Euphemism for oceanicabyss, the resting place for sailors drowned at sea. |
| Character | Davy Jones |
Davy Jones' locker is ametaphor for the oceanicabyss, the final resting place of drowned sailors and travellers. It is aeuphemism fordrowning or shipwrecks in which the sailors' and ships' remains are consigned to the depths of the ocean (to besent to Davy Jones' Locker).
First used in print in 1726, the nameDavy Jones' origins are unclear, with a 19th-century dictionary tracing Davy Jones to a "ghost ofJonah". Other explanations of thisnautical superstition have been put forth, including an incompetent sailor or a pub owner who kidnapped sailors.
The earliest known reference of the negative connotation of Davy Jones occurs inThe Four Years Voyages ofCapt. George Roberts, attributed toDaniel Defoe (but likely involving the journal of a realGeorge Roberts), published in 1726 in London.[2]
Some of Loe's Company said, They would look out some things, and give me along with me when I was going away; but Russel told them, they should not, for he would toss them all into Davy Jones's Locker if they did.[3]
And elsewhere inThe Four Years Voyages:
But now they had no Goods at all, he believed, having disposed of them all, either by giving them to other Prizes, &c. or heaving the rest into David Jones's Locker (i.e. the Sea).[3]
The origin of the tale of Davy Jones is unclear, and many conjectural[4] or folkloric[5] explanations have been told:
"I’ll be damned if it was not Davy Jones himself: I know him by his saucer-eyes, his three rows of teeth, his horns and tail, and the blue smoak that came out of his nostrils. What does the black-guard, hell’s baby want with me? I’m sure I never committed murder, nor wronged any man whatsomever, since I first went to sea." This same Davy Jones, according to the mythology of sailors, is the fiend that presides over all the evil spirits of the deep, and is often seen in various shapes, perching among the rigging on the eve of hurricanes, shipwrecks, and other disasters, to which a sea-faring life is exposed ; warning the devoted wretch of death and woe.[6]
He's gone to Davy Jones' locker, i.e. he is dead. Jones is a corruption of Jonah, the prophet, who was thrown into the sea.Locker, in seaman's phrase, means any receptacle for private stores; andduffy is a ghost or spirit among the West Indian negroes. So the whole phrase is, "He is gone to the place of safe keeping, where duffy Jonah was sent to."
— E. Cobham Brewer[9]
During many years of seafaring life, I have frequently considered the origin of this phrase, and have now arrived at the conclusion that it is derived from the scriptural account of the prophet Jonah. The word 'locker', on board of ship, generally means the place where any particular thing is retained or kept, as "bread locker", "shot locker", "chain locker", &c. In the sublime ode in the second chapter of the Book of Jonah, we find that the prophet, praying for deliverance, described his situation in the following words:—"in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about; the depth closed me round about; the earth with her bars was about me". The sea, then, might not be misappropriately termed by a rude mariner, Jonah's locker—that is, the place where Jonah was kept or confined. Jonah's locker, in time, might be readily corrupted to Jones's locker; and Davy, as a very common Welsh accompaniment of the equally Welsh name, Jones, added, the true derivation of the phrase having been forgotten.
— W. Pinkerton,Notes and Queries: Vol. III, No. 86, page 478, Saturday, June 21. 1851.[13]
Not all traditions dealing with Davy Jones are fearful. In traditions associated with sailorscrossing the Equatorial line, there is a "raucous and rowdy" initiation presided over by those who have crossed the line before, known as shellbacks, or Sons ofNeptune. The eldest shellback is called King Neptune, and Davy Jones is to be re-enacted as his first assistant.[16]
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After 1726'sFour Years Voyages, another early description of Davy Jones occurs inTobias Smollett'sThe Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, published in 1751:[9]
This same Davy Jones, according to sailors, is the fiend that presides over all the evil spirits of the deep, and is often seen in various shapes,perching among the rigging on the eve of hurricanes:, ship-wrecks, and other disasters to which sea-faring life is exposed, warning the devoted wretch of death and woe.[9]
In the story, Jones is described as having saucer eyes, three rows of teeth, horns, a tail, and blue smoke coming from his nostrils.
in 1812, a musical pantomime 'Davy Jones's Locker, Or Black ey'd Susan' was performed at London'sWest End theatre;Sans Pareil, known today asAdelphi Theatre.[17]
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In the 1930 cartoon "The Haunted Ship", from theAesop's Fables series, Davy Jones is depicted as a living skeleton wearing a pirate'sbicorne hat.
Raymond Z. Gallun's 1935 science fiction story "Davey Jones' Ambassador" tells of a deep-sea explorer in his underwater capsule who comes in contact on the seabed with a deep-sea culture of underwater creatures.
Theodore Sturgeon's 1938 short story "Mailed Through a Porthole", about a doomed freighter, takes the form of a letter addressed to "Mr. David Jones, Esq., Forty Fathoms".
Davy Jones is a character appearing inPopeye comics authored by Tom Sims andBela Zaboly between 1939 and 1959. He is depicted as a sea spirit who inhabits the bottom of the ocean as well as his Locker, which is located in a sunken ship.
Tom Lehrer's 1953 albumSongs by Tom Lehrer includes the number "The Irish Ballad", in which one of the stanzas contains the lines "She weighted her brother down with stones / And sent him off to Davey Jones."[19]
The 1959 Broadway musicalDavy Jones' Locker withBil Baird'smarionettes had a two-week run at theMorosco Theatre.[20]
In the television seriesThe Monkees 1967 episode "Hitting The High Seas", the character Davy Jones (played by musicianDavy Jones) receives special treatment while kidnapped in a ship as he claims to be related to "The Original" Davy Jones, his grandfather. The fact that Jones the musician shared a name with the legendary seafarer has itself led to a number ofpuns swapping the two in the decades that followed.[n 2]
The concept of Davy Jones was combined with the legend of theFlying Dutchman in thePirates of the Caribbean film series, in which Davy Jones's locker is portrayed as apurgatory place of punishment for those who crossedDavy Jones. Jones is portrayed as a captain assigned toferry those drowned at sea to the afterlife before he corrupted his purpose out of anger at his betrayal by his lover, the sea-goddessCalypso. Davy Jones is portrayed as an enigma of the sea, featuring octopus tentacles for a beard and crab claw for a hand.
The phrase has often been referenced comedically in the animated television seriesSpongeBob SquarePants, particularly by the show'sghostly personification of the Flying Dutchman.[21] "Davy Jones's locker" has made occasional appearances in the cartoon as a literal gymlocker used to containsouls and socks.One episode featuresDavy Jones fromThe Monkees claim ownership of the locker, as a pun on the pop singer's name.[22]
French singerNolwenn Leroy recorded a song titled "Davy Jones" for her 2012 albumÔ Filles de l'Eau. The English version contains the lines: "Davy Jones, oh Davy Jones / Where they gonna rest your bones / Down in the deep blue sea / Down in the deep blue sea..."
In 2022 it was widely reported as referenced and explained byMrs Justice Steyn toRebekah Vardy in theWagatha Christie trial.[23][24][25]
InOne Piece,Rocks D. Xebec and Blackbeard are descendants of Davy Jones.[26]
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