View source for Davy Jones's locker

{{short description|Sailor legend}}
{{other uses|Davy Jones' Locker (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox fictional location
| name = Davy Jones' locker
| image = Punch Davy Jones's Locker.png
| imagesize = 
| caption = ''Davy Jones' Locker'', by [[John Tenniel]], 1892
| source = 
| first = ''Four Years Voyages of Capt. George Roberts'' (1726)
| creator = 
| genre = Nautical folklore
| type = [[Euphemism]] for oceanic [[abyss (religion)|abyss]], the resting place for sailors drowned at sea.
| people = Davy Jones
}}

[[File:Davy Jones by George Cruikshank.png|thumb|Davy Jones pictured by [[George Cruikshank]] in 1832, as described by [[Tobias Smollett]] in ''[[The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle]].''<ref>However, the depicted character is a fake created by Pipes, Perry and Pickle to scare Mr. Trunnion; see: {{cite book |title= The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle|last= Smollett|first= Tobias|author-link= Tobias Smollett|year= 1751|publisher= D. Wilson|location= London|page= 66}}</ref>]]
'''Davy Jones' locker''' is a [[metaphor]] for the oceanic [[abyss (religion)|abyss]], the final resting place of drowned sailors and travellers. It is a [[euphemism]] for [[drowning]] or shipwrecks in which the sailors' and ships' remains are consigned to the depths of the ocean (to be ''sent to Davy Jones' Locker'').

First used in print in 1726, the name '''Davy Jones'''' origins are unclear, with a 19th-century dictionary tracing Davy Jones to a "ghost of [[Jonah]]". Other explanations of this [[Sailors' superstitions|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 [[George Roberts (mariner)|Capt. George Roberts]]'', attributed to [[Daniel Defoe]] (but potentially involving the journal of a real [[George Roberts (mariner)|George Roberts]]), published in 1726 in London.<ref name="Green's Dictionary of Slang">{{cite web |last1=Green |first1=Jonathan |title=Davy Jones's locker, n. — Green's Dictionary of Slang |url=https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/bymlveq |website=greensdictofslang.com |publisher=Chambers |access-date=3 October 2024}}</ref>

{{blockquote|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.<ref name="Four Years">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OWsBAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA89|page=89|title=The four years voyages of capt. George Roberts. Written by himself|last=Defoe|first=Daniel|year=1726}}</ref>|}}

And elsewhere in ''The Four Years Voyages'':

{{blockquote|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).<ref name="Four Years" />}}

===Proposed origins of the tale===
The origin of the tale of Davy Jones is unclear, and many conjectural<ref name="slang">{{cite book|last1=Farmer|first1=John S|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lUYVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA129|title=A Dictionary of slang and Colloquial English|last2=Henley|first2=William Ernest|year=1927|pages=128–129}}</ref> or folkloric<ref name="mq">{{cite web|author=Michael Quinion|year=1999|title=World Wide Words|url=http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-dav1.htm|access-date=15 January 2013}}</ref> explanations have been told:

*''[[Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue|The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue]]'' by [[Francis Grose]], written in 1785 and published in 1811, includes the definitions: "DAVID JONES. The devil, the spirit of the sea: called [[Necken]] or [[Draugr]] in the north countries, such as Norway, Denmark, and Sweden" and "DAVID JONES' LOCKER. The sea".<ref name="dotwt">[[Francis Grose|Grose, Francis]]. 1811. ''[https://archive.org/stream/1811dictionaryof05402gut/dcvgr10.txt Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue: A Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence]'', 10th ed. [[Project Gutenberg]]. Retrieved 2021-11-16.</ref>
*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's locker was to be lost at sea.<ref>Chester Chronicle - Friday 18 November 1791 - https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000341/17911118/005/0002</ref>
*The 1870 and 1895 editions of the ''[[Dictionary of Phrase and Fable]]'' connect Davy to the [[West Indies|West-Indian]] ''[[duppy]]'' (''duffy'') and Jones to biblical [[Jonah]]: {{blockquote|''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; and ''duffy'' 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<ref name="fable"/>}} The reference to ''duppy''/''duffy'' was deleted in later revisions of Brewer's dictionary.
*David Jones, a real [[pirate]], although not a very well-known one, living on the [[Indian Ocean]] in the 1630s.<ref>{{cite book| last = Rogoziński| first = Jan| location = Ware, Hertfordshire, UK | title = The Wordsworth Dictionary of Pirates| isbn = 1-85326-384-2| date = 1997-01-01| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/wordsworthdictio00rogo}}</ref> Charles Grey calls him "a truculent rascal ... to whose activities in covering up the evidence of their misdeeds, Sir William Foster is inclined (wrongly) to attribute the origin of the sea phrase ''Davy Jones's Locker''".<ref name="Grey - Eastern Seas">{{cite book|last1=Grey|first1=Charles|title=Pirates of the eastern seas (1618–1723): a lurid page of history|date=1933|publisher=S. Low, Marston & co., ltd|location=London |url=http://www.sabrizain.org/malaya/library/documents/1D30004CA384A81381DD3C8F45CAE3B216713B01.html|accessdate=26 June 2017}}</ref>
*Duffer Jones, a notoriously [[myopic]] sailor who often found himself overboard.<ref name="jones">{{cite book|last=Shay|first=Frank|title=A Sailor's Treasury|publisher=Norton|id=ASIN B0007DNHZ0}}</ref>
*A British pub owner who supposedly threw drunken sailors into his ale locker and then gave them to be [[Conscription|drafted]] on any ship.<ref name=mq/>
*Pinkerton attributes its origin to the Biblical Jonah:
{{blockquote|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.|source=W. Pinkerton, ''Notes and Queries'': Vol. III, No. 86, page 478, Saturday, June 21. 1851.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Project Gutenberg|date=September 21, 2011|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37496/37496-h/37496-h.htm|via=[[Project Gutenberg]]}}</ref>}}
*The phrase may have been associated with balladeer and clergyman [[David Lloyd (Dean of St Asaph)|David Lloyd]], well known for his nautical adventure ballad ''The Legend of Captain Jones''.<ref name="Lloyd">{{cite book |last1=Lloyd |first1=David |title=The legend of Captain Jones. : Relating his adventure to sea: his first landing, and strange combat with a mighty bear. His furious battel with his six and thirty men, against the army of eleven kings, with their overthrow and deaths. His relieving of Kemper Castle. His strange and admirable sea-fight with six huge gallies of Spain, and nine thousand souldiers. His taking prisoner, and hard usage. Lastly, his setting at liberty by the Kings command, and return for England |date=1659 |publisher=London : Printed for Humphrey Moseley, and are to be sold at his shop, at the Prince's Armes in St. Paul's Church-Yard |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/legendofcaptainj00lloy/page/n5/mode/2up |access-date=21 April 2025}}</ref>
*Linguists consider it most plausible that ''Davy'' was inspired by [[Saint David]] of [[Wales]], whose name was often invoked by Welsh sailors, and ''Jones'' by the Biblical Jonah.<ref>{{cite web|title=August 22, 2014 Word of the Day: Davy Jones's Locker|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day/2014/08/22/|access-date=23 August 2014}}</ref>

==Positive associations==
[[File:USS Triton SSRN-586 - Crossing the Equator - Operation Sandblast - 1960.jpg|thumb|[[Line-crossing ceremony|Crossing the equator ceremony]] (with "Davy Jones" with yellow cape and a plunger as sceptre) aboard the {{USS|Triton|SSRN-586|6}}, 24 February 1960 as part of the [[Operation Sandblast]] cruise]]
Not all traditions dealing with Davy Jones are fearful. In traditions associated with sailors [[Line-crossing ceremony|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 (mythology)|Neptune]]. The eldest shellback is called King Neptune, and Davy Jones is to be re-enacted as his first assistant.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wvKiBiWKrzMC&q=davy%20jones&pg=PA76|pages=76–79|title=Naval Ceremonies, Customs, and Traditions|isbn=9781557503305|last1=Connell|first1=Royal W|last2=Mack|first2=William P|date=2004-08-01|publisher=Naval Institute Press }}</ref>

==Use in media==
{{excessive examples|date=September 2019}}

===18th century===
After 1726's ''Four Years Voyages'', another early description of Davy Jones occurs in [[Tobias Smollett]]'s ''[[The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle]]'', published in 1751:<ref name="fable">{{cite web|last=Brewer|first=E. Cobham|date=1898-01-01|title=Davy Jones's Locker.|url=http://www.bartleby.com/81/4705.html|access-date=2006-04-30|work=Dictionary of Phrase and Fable}}</ref>

{{blockquote|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.<ref name="fable"/>|}}

In the story, Jones is described as having saucer eyes, three rows of teeth, horns, a tail, and blue smoke coming from his nostrils.

===19th century===
[[File:The Upshot of the Invasion, or Bony in a fair way for Davey's Locker. (caricature), 1804 RMG PU4797.tiff|thumb|1804 print showing "The Upshot of the Invasion, or Bony in a fair way for Davey's Locker"]]
in 1812, a musical pantomime 'Davy Jones's Locker, Or Black ey'd Susan' was performed at London's West End theatre; '''Sans Pareil''', known today as [[Adelphi Theatre]].<ref>Morning Chronicle - Wednesday 30 December 1812 - https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000082/18121230/005/0003</ref>

===20th century===
[[File:"Lubbers don't live - Oh learn a lesson from Joe Gotch" - NARA - 514926.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|World War II poster makes reference to Davy Jones's Locker.{{refn | group = n|Caption: Oh learn a lesson from Joe Gotch – Without a lifebelt he stood watch – "Abandon ship" came over the phones – He now resides with Davy Jones}} In nautical jargon, a lubber is a clumsy or inexperienced sailor.<ref>{{cite OED|lubber|id=110780}}j</ref>]]

In the 1930 cartoon "The Haunted Ship", from the [[Aesop's Fables (film series)|''Aesop's Fables'']] series, Davy Jones is depicted as a living skeleton wearing a pirate's [[bicorne]] 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 in ''[[Popeye (comic strip)|Popeye]]'' comics authored by Tom Sims and [[Bela 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 album [[Songs 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."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mainlynorfolk.info/folk/songs/ricketyticketytin.html|title=The Irish Ballad / Rickety Tickety Tin [Tom Lehrer]|website=Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music}}</ref>

The 1959 Broadway musical ''Davy Jones' Locker'' with [[Bil Baird]]'s [[marionette]]s had a two-week run at the [[Morosco Theatre]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/production/davy-jones-locker-morosco-theatre-vault-0000002430|title=Davy Jones' Locker @ Morosco Theatre|access-date=2016-09-25}}</ref>

In the television series ''[[The Monkees (TV series)|The Monkees]]'' 1967 episode "Hitting The High Seas", the character Davy Jones (played by musician [[Davy Jones (musician)|Davy 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 of [[pun]]s swapping the two in the decades that followed.{{refn|group = n|Musician [[David Bowie]] performed and recorded as Davy or Davie Jones – Jones being his real surname – before taking on the [[stage name]] [[Bowie knife|Bowie]] to avoid confusion with The Monkees' singer.}}

===21st century===
The concept of Davy Jones was combined with the legend of the ''[[Flying Dutchman]]'' in the [[Pirates of the Caribbean film series|''Pirates of the Caribbean'' film series]], in which Davy Jones's locker is portrayed as a [[purgatory]] place of punishment for those who crossed [[Davy Jones (character)|Davy Jones]]. Jones is portrayed as a captain assigned to [[Psychopomp|ferry]] 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 (Pirates of the Caribbean)|Calypso]]. 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 series ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'', particularly by the show's [[List of SpongeBob SquarePants characters#The Flying Dutchman|ghostly personification]] of the Flying Dutchman.<ref>{{cite web |title=Brian Doyle-Murray: Flying Dutchman|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0707288/characters/nm0236519 |website=IMDB}}</ref> "Davy Jones's locker" has made occasional appearances in the cartoon as a literal gym [[locker]] used to contain [[souls]] and socks. [[SpongeBob SquarePants vs. The Big One|One episode]] features [[Davy Jones (musician)|Davy Jones]] from [[The Monkees]] claim ownership of the locker, as a pun on the pop singer's name.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Press |first1=Joy |title=Davy Jones: Four zany moments, from 'Brady Bunch' to 'SpongeBob' |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/show-tracker/story/2012-02-29/davy-jones-four-zany-moments-from-brady-bunch-to-spongebob |website=Los Angeles Times |date=29 February 2012}}</ref>

French singer [[Nolwenn Leroy]] 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..."

In 2022 it was widely reported as referenced and explained by [[Karen Steyn|Mrs Justice Steyn]] to [[Rebekah Vardy]] in the [[Wagatha Christie]] trial.<ref>{{cite news |title='Who is Davy Jones?' Wagatha trial judge forced to explain phrase to Rebekah Vardy |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/davy-jones-wagatha-christie-rebekka-vardy-b2078178.html |work=The Independent |date=20 December 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Rebekah Vardy agent's phone is 'in Davy Jones' locker', court hears |url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/rebekah-vardy-agent-phone-davy-181702788.html |work=Yahoo News |date=12 May 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Hyde |first1=Marina |title=Like a phone dropped in the North Sea, Vardy v Rooney is full of absolute gold |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/13/phone-north-sea-rebekah-vardy-coleen-rooney-libel-case |work=The Guardian |date=13 May 2022}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Fiddler's Green]]
* [[Flying Dutchman]]
* [[Rán]]
* [[Burial at sea]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=n|}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Pirates}}
{{Superstitions}}

[[Category:1720s neologisms]]
[[Category:Metaphors]]
[[Category:Maritime folklore]]
[[Category:Superstitions]]
[[Category:Supernatural legends]]
[[Category:Fictional Disney locations]]
[[Category:Nixies (folklore)]]
[[Category:Demons]]
[[Category:Supernatural beings identified with Christian saints]]
[[Category:Jonah]]