Johny Jhoneses

The origin of the tale of “Davy Jones” is unclear, and many explanations have been proposed:

* There was an actual David Jones, who was a pirate on the Indian Ocean in the 1630s,[4] but most scholars agree that he was not renowned enough to gain such lasting global fame.[3]

* A British pub owner who is referenced in the 1594 song "Jones's Ale is Newe." He may be the same pub owner who supposedly threw drunken sailors into his ale locker and then dumped them onto any passing ship.[3] He could also be Duffer Jones, a notoriously myopic sailor who often found himself over-board.[5]

* Welsh sailors who would call upon Saint David for protection in times of mortal danger.[3] Some also think it is simply another name for Satan.[3]

* The name may have come from Deva, Davy or Taffy, the thief of the evil spirit[citation needed]. Davy may also stem from Duppy, a West Indian term for a malevolent ghost, or else, perhaps, from Saint David, also known as Dewi, a Welsh sea god and also the patron saint of Wales, or perhaps Davy Jones derives from the prophet Jonah,[2]

* There is also the "Jonah" theory, Jonah became the "evil angel" of all sailors, as the biblical story of Jonah involved his shipmates realizing Jonah was an unlucky sailor and casting him over-board. Naturally, sailors of previous centuries would identify more with the beset-upon ship-mates of Jonah than with the unfortunate man himself. It is therefore a possibility that "Davy Jones" grew from the root "Devil Jonah" - the devil of the seas. Upon death, a wicked sailor's body supposedly went to Davy Jones's locker (a chest, as lockers were back then), but a holy sailor's soul went to Fiddler's Green.[3]

[edit] Reputation

The tale of Davy Jones causes fear among sailors, who may refuse to discuss Davy Jones in any great detail.[3] Not all traditions dealing with Davy Jones are fearful. In traditions associated with sailors crossing the Equatorial line, there was a "raucous and rowdy" initiation presided over by those who had crossed the line before, known as shellbacks, or Sons of Neptune. The eldest shellback was called King Neptune, and the next eldest was his assistant who was called Davy Jones.[3]

[edit] Use in media

[edit] 1800s

In 1824 Washington Irving mentions Jones’ name in his Adventures of the Black Fisherman:

“ He came, said he, in a storm, and he went in a storm; he came in the night, and he went in the night; he came nobody knows whence, and he has gone nobody knows where. For aught I know he has gone to sea once more on his chest, and may land to bother some people on the other side of the world; though it is a thousand pities, added he, if he has gone to Davy Jones's locker.The origin of the tale of “Davy Jones” is unclear, and many explanations have been proposed:

* There was an actual David Jones, who was a pirate on the Indian Ocean in the 1630s,[4] but most scholars agree that he was not renowned enough to gain such lasting global fame.[3]

* A British pub owner who is referenced in the 1594 song "Jones's Ale is Newe." He may be the same pub owner who supposedly threw drunken sailors into his ale locker and then dumped them onto any passing ship.[3] He could also be Duffer Jones, a notoriously myopic sailor who often found himself over-board.[5]

* Welsh sailors who would call upon Saint David for protection in times of mortal danger.[3] Some also think it is simply another name for Satan.[3]

* The name may have come from Deva, Davy or Taffy, the thief of the evil spirit[citation needed]. Davy may also stem from Duppy, a West Indian term for a malevolent ghost, or else, perhaps, from Saint David, also known as Dewi, a Welsh sea god and also the patron saint of Wales, or perhaps Davy Jones derives from the prophet Jonah,[2]

* There is also the "Jonah" theory, Jonah became the "evil angel" of all sailors, as the biblical story of Jonah involved his shipmates realizing Jonah was an unlucky sailor and casting him over-board. Naturally, sailors of previous centuries would identify more with the beset-upon ship-mates of Jonah than with the unfortunate man himself. It is therefore a possibility that "Davy Jones" grew from the root "Devil Jonah" - the devil of the seas. Upon death, a wicked sailor's body supposedly went to Davy Jones's locker (a chest, as lockers were back then), but a holy sailor's soul went to Fiddler's Green.[3]

[edit]