Davy Jones
The name Davy Jones - and particularly Davy Jones' Locker - has become synonymous with disaster at sea. Most recently the name was used for a character in the movie Pirates of the Caribean: Dead Man's Chest. But who was Davy (or Davey) Jones? Did he ever really exist?
Who Was Davy Jones?
Unfortunately the origin of Davy Jones is lost in time. The earliest known written reference comes from 1751 when Tobias Smollet described "him" as:
"... the fiend that presides over all the evil spirits of the deep..."
The interesting thing about that description is that it refers to Davy Jones as a fiend rather than as a person. The idea of a person - pirate, publican, drunken sailor etc - called Davy Jones appears to have come later.
The traditional association of Davy Jones is with the idea of the devil of the deep. An encounter with this fiend was, stories tell us, one of the worst fears of sailors.
So if Davy Jones is a malevolent supernatural entity, why does he have a human name? The most likely explanation seems that it was a mis-reporting of a myth from another language. One possibility is that "Davey" is in fact a corruption of the West Indian word duppy which refers to a devil. The name "Jones" could have come from association with the tale of Jonah. The name Jonah has often been associated with bad luck, so Davy Jones could be interpreted as a sea devil who brings misfortune to sailors.
Davy Jones' Locker
Since Davy Jones is the malevolent spirit of the deep, it makes sense that the bottom of the ocean - the final resting place of many sailors, traders and pirates alike - would be seen as his domain.But why is their watery grave referred to as a "locker"?
One suggestion is that a locker was a place to store things safely. Davy Jones would thus stash the souls of the unfortunate mariners in this locker. Quite why he would hoard them in this way is unclear - but the harvesting of souls is a common factor in many legends of devils, maritime or otherwise.
Another variation is that the term came from reference to the rum locker on board ship.
Incidentally, the concept of Davy Jones as tentacle-faced captain of the Flying Dutchman appears
to have been invented for the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It doesn't appear in
any traditional sea lore with which I'm familiar. But it looked great!
External Links:
Pirates at Treasurology
