Folk Tales: Davy Jones The Folklore of the Devil that Ruled the Sea

There is much about Jones that we don't know. Here we explore what we do know about him and look at what makes him so frightful.

The myth of Davy Jones has gained in popularity over recent years. His story has various different origins which give way for a complex folktale. Who is he? Where does his story come from and why are sailors so scared of him?

There are two different Christian characters that Davy Jones is theorized to have come from, the first being the Patron Saint of Wales St. David, Welsh sailors were known to make reference to him. Secondly Jonah of the bible who was swallowed whole by a whale. Another story about who Davy Jones was comes from Wales as well, here the story says that Davy Jones was a bartender in a pub. He would pull out drugged rum from a locker and give it to unsuspecting sailors who would then pass out and wake up on a pirate ship. This rather common practice with pubs is referred to as being shanghaied. This version of Davy Jones’ story has conflicting origins, some say he was a pub owner in London and others say in Wales. It is also said that Davy is a compromise of the word “duppy” which is a West Indian term for a malevolent spirit that would cause harm. Jones was also rumored to be a fierce pirate that enjoyed making people walk the plank.

Davy Jones’ locker is believed to be a reference to hell or the bottom of the sea. Men who died at sea or were drowned were said to be sent to Davy Jones’ locker. Likewise if a person said “see you to Davy Jones’ locker” they were threatening to commit murder and if a person said that they were in the grip of Davy Jones they were close to death or extremely frightened.

It wasn’t just sailors that went down into Davy Jones’ locker; ships that were believed to be inferior or sank earned a place in his locker. Another twist to the Davy Jones folklore is that if a sailor was in general a good chap he would go to a place called Fiddler’s Green. Fiddler’s Green was said to be an underwater paradise similar to the paradise the merfolk lived in. Here we can see the ties of the Davy Jones folktale to the Northern European countries. For in common fairy folklore of Northern Europe a green refers to Fairyland where people would go after they died.

All of these different pieces come together to form the frightful, awe inspiring folktale of Davy Jones, the spirit that ruled the oceans and claimed sailors at the time of their death to go to his locker in the deepest reaches of the sea.