Davy Jones's locker is a

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wi ...

for the oceanic

abyss Abyss may refer to: * Abyss (religion), a bottomless pit, or a passage to the underworld Film and television * ''The Abyss'' (1910 film), a Danish silent film starring Asta Nielsen * ''The Abyss'' (1988 film) (''L'Œuvre au noir''), a French- ...

, the final resting place of drowned sailors and travellers. It is a

euphemism A euphemism () is an innocuous word or expression used in place of one that is deemed offensive or suggests something unpleasant. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the user wishes ...

for

drowning Drowning is a type of suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where others present are either unaware of the victim's situation or unable to offer as ...

or shipwrecks in which the sailors' and ships' remains are consigned to the depths of the ocean (to be ''sent to Davy Jones' Locker''). The origins of the name of Davy Jones, the sailors'

devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...

, are unclear, with a 19th-century dictionary tracing Davy Jones to a "ghost of

Jonah Jonah or Jonas, ''Yōnā'', "dove"; gr, Ἰωνᾶς ''Iōnâs''; ar, يونس ' or '; Latin: ''Ionas'' Ben (Hebrew), son of Amittai, is a prophet in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran, from Gath-hepher of the northern Kingdom of Israel (Samaria ...

". Other explanations of this nautical superstition have been put forth, including an incompetent sailor or a pub owner who kidnapped sailors.

History

The earliest known reference of the negative connotation of Davy Jones occurs in the ''Four Years Voyages of Capt. George Roberts'', by author

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel '' Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...

, published in 1726 in London. An early description of Davy Jones occurs in

Tobias Smollett Tobias George Smollett (baptised 19 March 1721 – 17 September 1771) was a Scottish poet and author. He was best known for picaresque novels such as '' The Adventures of Roderick Random'' (1748), '' The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle'' (1751 ...

's '' The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle'', published in 1751: In the story, Jones is described as having saucer eyes, three rows of teeth, horns, a tail, and blue smoke coming from his nostrils.

Proposed origins of the tale

The origin of the tale of Davy Jones is unclear, and many conjectural or folkloric explanations have been told: *'' The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue'' by

Francis Grose Francis Grose (born before 11 June 1731 – 12 May 1791) was an English antiquary, draughtsman, and lexicographer. He produced ''A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue'' (1785) and ''A Provincial Glossary, with a Collection of Local Pr ...

, written in 1785 and published in 1811, includes the definitions: "DAVID JONES. The devil, the spirit of the sea: called Necken or

Draugr The draugr or draug ( non, draugr, plural ; modern is, draugur, fo, dreygur and Danish, Swedish, and no, draug) is an undead creature from the Scandinavian saga literature and folktale. Commentators extend the term ''draugr'' to the undead ...

in the north countries, such as Norway, Denmark, and Sweden" and "DAVID JONES' LOCKER. The sea".

Grose, Francis Francis Grose (born before 11 June 1731 – 12 May 1791) was an English antiquary, draughtsman, and lexicographer. He produced ''A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue'' (1785) and ''A Provincial Glossary, with a Collection of Local Prov ...

. 1811.
Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue: A Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence
', 10th ed.

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libr ...

. Retrieved 2021-11-16. *Written within a foreign affairs segment within the newspaper 'Chester Chronicle' in 1791, the term 'Safe in Davy Jones's locker' was used to convey that a person was lost, therefore to be within Davy Jones' locker was to be lost at sea. *The 1898 ''

Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ''Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable'', sometimes referred to simply as ''Brewer's'', is a reference work containing definitions and explanations of many famous phrases, allusions, and figures, whether historical or mythical. The "New Edi ...

'' connects Davy to the West-Indian ''

duppy Duppy is a word of African origin commonly used in various Caribbean islands, including Barbados and Jamaica, meaning ghost or spirit.

'' (''duffy'') and Jones to biblical

: *David Jones, a real

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

, although not a very well-known one, living on the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...

in the 1630s. *Duffer Jones, a notoriously

myopic Near-sightedness, also known as myopia and short-sightedness, is an eye disease where light focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. As a result, distant objects appear blurry while close objects appear normal. Other symptoms may include ...

sailor who often found himself overboard. *A British pub owner who supposedly threw drunken sailors into his ale locker and then gave them to be drafted on any ship. *Linguists consider it most plausible that ''Davy'' was inspired by

Saint David Saint David ( cy, Dewi Sant; la, Davidus; ) was a Welsh bishop of Mynyw (now St Davids) during the 6th century. He is the patron saint of Wales. David was a native of Wales, and tradition has preserved a relatively large amount of detail a ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, whose name was often invoked by Welsh sailors, and ''Jones'' by the Biblical Jonah.

Reputation

USS Triton SSRN-586 - Crossing the Equator - Operation Sandblast - 1960

Not all traditions dealing with Davy Jones are fearful. In traditions associated with sailors crossing 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 of

Neptune Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 time ...

. The eldest shellback is called King Neptune, and Davy Jones is to be re-enacted as his first assistant.

Use in media

19th century

in 1812, a musical pantomime 'Davy Jones's Locker, Or Black ey'd Susan' was performed at London's West End theatre; Sans Pereil, known today as

Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receivin ...

20th century

Theodore Sturgeon Theodore Sturgeon (; born Edward Hamilton Waldo, February 26, 1918 – May 8, 1985) was an American fiction author of primarily fantasy, science fiction and horror, as well as a critic. He wrote approximately 400 reviews and more than 120 sh ...

's short story, "Mailed Through a Porthole" (1938), about a doomed freighter, takes the form of a letter addressed to "Mr. David Jones, Esq., Forty Fathoms." The 1959 Broadway musical ''Davy Jones' Locker'' with

Bil Baird William Britton "Bil" Baird (August 15, 1904 – March 18, 1987) was an American puppeteer of the mid- and late 20th century. In a career that spanned over 60 years, he and his puppets performed for millions of adults and children. One of his be ...

marionettes A marionette (; french: marionnette, ) is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed ...

had a two-week run at the

Morosco Theatre The Morosco Theatre was a Broadway theatre near Times Square in New York City from 1917 to 1982. It housed many notable productions and its demolition, along with four adjacent theaters, was controversial. History Located at 217 West 45th Stree ...

. In the 1960s television series ''

The Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was con ...

'' episode "Hitting The High Seas", the character Davy Jones (played by musician Davy Jones) receives special treatment while kidnapped in a ship as he claims to be related to "The Original" Davy Jones, his grandfather. Meanwhile, his fellow band members are held hostage, leading to various humorous situations. The fact that Jones the musician shared a name with the legendary seafarer has itself led to a number of

pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...

s swapping the two in the decades that followed. In the cartoon "The Haunted Ship", from the ''Aesop's Fables'' series produced by the Van Beuren animation studios, Davy Jones is depicted as a living skeleton wearing a pirate's

bicorne The bicorne or bicorn (two-cornered) is a historical form of hat widely adopted in the 1790s as an item of uniform by European and American army and naval officers. Most generals and staff officers of the Napoleonic period wore bicornes, whic ...

hat. Davy Jones is a character appearing in ''

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.Bela Zaboly. 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. Although he has opposed Popeye in the past, both masters of the sea have grown mostly friendly towards each other. The being appears as an old pirate with a white beard, eyepatch, peg leg and hook. Raymond Z. Gallun's science fiction story "Davey Jones' Ambassador" (Astounding Stories, December 1935) tells the story of a deep-sea explorer in his underwater capsule who comes in contact on the seabed with a deep-sea culture of underwater creatures that resemble a mixture of sharks and crabs.

21st century

The concept of Davy Jones was combined with the legend of the ''

Flying Dutchman The ''Flying Dutchman'' ( nl, De Vliegende Hollander) is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the seven seas forever. The myth is likely to have originated from the 17th-century Golden Age of the Du ...

'' in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' film series, in which Davy Jones' Locker is portrayed as a

purgatory Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...

place of punishment for those who crossed Davy Jones. Jones is portrayed as a captain assigned to

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water ta ...

those drowned at sea to the afterlife before he corrupted his purpose out of anger at his betrayal by his lover, the sea-goddess Calypso. Davy Jones is portrayed in the movie 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 series ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American Animated series, animated Television comedy, comedy Television show, television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It ...

'', particularly by the show's ghostly personification of the Flying Dutchman. "Davy Jones's locker" has made occasional appearances in the cartoon as a physical gym locker used to contain souls, including

once Once means a one-time occurrence. Once may refer to: Music * ''Once'' (Pearl Jam song), a 1991 song from the album ''Ten'' * ''Once'' (Roy Harper album), a 1990 album by Roy Harper * ''Once'' (The Tyde album), a 2001 debut album by The Tyd ...

alongside former Monkees band member Davy Jones. French singer

Nolwenn Leroy Nolwenn Le Magueresse (; born 28 September 1982), known by her stage name Nolwenn Leroy (), is a French singer-songwriter, musician and actress. Originally classically trained (violin and opera singing), she rose to fame after winning the second ...

recorded a song titled "Davy Jones" for her 2012 album ''Ô 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..."

Notes

References

{{Superstitions 1720s neologisms Metaphors Maritime folklore Superstitions Supernatural legends Fictional places in Disney films