Davy Jones

The cute little short English Monkee. (Since they were ripping off the Beatles, there had to be at least one with an English accent.)

He had a pretty good voice, but will not be seen at any MENSA meetings, if you know what I mean. He passed away with a massive heart attack 2/29/2012.

Davy Jones, the spirit of the ocean as known to sailors. Originally an American term popularised in fiction (sometimes rationalised as David Jones, and given a mythical biography), the English equivalent is Duffy Jones, which shines some light on its origin.

Duffy is the Caribbean term for a ghost or spirit. It is believed by some to derive from Devi or Deva, the Indo-European term for spirit, demon or god, which may have been the original term, a Devi Jones is recorded in some versions.

Jones was once Jonas and refers to Jonah, the Hebrew prophet thrown overboard to have his legendary encounter with a whale. Some scholars believe this Bible story may originally refer to a Phoenician sacrifice to their sea god, identified by Jews as the Leviathan, as is the whale in the Torah.

So at root we have a Devi Jonas, a christianised sea sprite of unknown origin and age, who could concievably date back to near Phoenician times according to some (as the Phoenicians had another custom of locking sacrificial victims to their sea god within his statue, hence 'locker'), though this is highly speculative.

The first clear reference to Davy Jones comes from a book titled The Adventures of Peregine Pickle written by one Tobias Smollet in 1751. It states "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, ship-wrecks, and other disasters to which sea-faring life is exposed, warning the devoted wretch of death and woe".

Now on to the legend of Davy Jones locker...

There's a couple of stories that usually attempt to identify the "real" Davy Jones and his locker. The first is that there was a pub owner in London that went by the same name. As the story goes, his specialty was to drug unwary patrons and store them in his ale lockers at the back of the pub until they could be taken aboard some ship. Another version is that Davy Jones was a pirate that liked to make his captives walk the plank, ending up at the bottom of the sea.

Was there a real Davy Jones? Who knows, the stories surrounding his existence seem to based more on folklore than fact.

Da"vy Jones" (?).

The spirit of the sea; sea devil; -- a term used by sailors.

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 seen in various shapes warning the devoted wretch of death and woe. Smollett.

Davy Jones's Locker, the ocean, or bottom of the ocean. -- Gone to Davy Jones's Locker, dead, and buried in the sea; thrown overboard.

 

© Webster 1913.