If you’re like me, you watched the Pirates of the Caribbean movies obsessively to figure out how it all works. LOL. What I really liked was the Flying Dutchman as it touched on folklore from my own country. So for my version of Davy Jones, I’m looking at various folklore — especially as it falls under my Death Fae collection. There aren’t a lot of old texts — or even modern ones — to quote, so my nutshell will contain most of the interesting bits.

Folklore

A BOOK OF FOLK-LORE by Sabine Baring-Gould [1913]

A phantom ship was seen approaching against wind and tide, sailing over land and sea in a cloudy squall, and in it departed the soul of a wrecker. His last moments were terrible, a tempest taking place in the room, where the plashing of water was heard. A similar spectral barque occurs in another story. “These caverns and’ cleaves were all shrouded in mist, which seemed to be gathering from all quarters to that place, till it formed a black cloud above and a thick haze below, out of which soon appeared the black masts of a black ship scudding away to sea, with all her sails set, and not a breath of wind stirring.” It carried off the soul of a noted white witch.

A story told at Priest’s Cove is much like these. Here a pirate lived. At his death a cloud came up, with a square-rigged ship in it, and the words, “The hour is come, but not the man” were heard. As the ship sailed over the house, the dying man’s room was filled with the noise of waves and breakers, and the house shook as the soul of the wrecker passed away, borne in the cloud ship.

“Whilst we were sailing from the Rio de Plata for Spain, one night I heard a cry ‘A sail!’ I ran at once on deck, but saw nothing. The man who kept watch looked greatly disturbed. When I spoke to him, he explained the reason of his condition. Looking out, he had seen a black frigate sail by so close that he could see the figurehead which represented a skeleton with a spear in his right hand. He also saw the crew on deck, which resembled the figurehead, only that skin was drawn over their bones. Their eyes were sunk deep in the sockets, and had in them a stare like that of dead bodies. Nevertheless they handled the cordage and managed the sail, which latter was so thin as to be like cobwebs, and the stars could only be dimly seen through them. The only word he heard, as the mysterious barque glided by, was ‘Water’. The man who had seen this became depressed through the rest of the voyage and died soon after.”

There are various versions of the story framed to account for the vision of the Flying Dutchman. That most usually accepted is that an unbelieving Dutch captain had vainly tried to round Cape Horn against a head-gale. He swore he would do it, and when the gale increased, laughed at the fears of his crew, smoked his pipe and swilled his beer. As all his efforts were unavailing, he cursed God, and was then condemned to navigate always without putting into port, only having gall to drink and red-hot iron to eat, and eternally to watch.

The theme has been adopted by novelists, poets and dramatists. It is a tale told in various forms in nearly every maritime Country, and till of late years sailors firmly believed in the existence of the Flying Dutchman, and dreaded seeing the phantom vessel.

These are all the abraded remains of the ancestral belief of our Aryan forefathers relative to the souls of the deceased being conveyed over the river of Vaiterafli, “hard to cross” of the Vedas, the Styx of the Greeks, the Gjöll of the Scandinavians, the earth surrounding river, into the land of spirits beyond.

Story of Nelly Wearne, Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall, Vol. 2, by William Bottrell, [1873]

Before going to rest Captain Black related how, on the foggy morning, when he hoped to take Nelly on board, by a mistake in reckoning, he kept too near the shore, and their ship struck on a rock west of Lamorna. As the ship leaked but little at first they hoped she had only sustained slight damage. They tacked off the coast, still shrouded in dense fog, and intended to bring her into Mousehole or Penzance; but, in an hour or so, the water poured in so fast that they had barely time to launch a boat and place in it a small part of their riches, when the Lovely Nell went to the bottom, with several of the crew in her hold. The Captain told all hands to let the jewels, gold, and silver go to Davy Jones’s locker, but some of them, disregarding his orders, went below and were endeavouring to save a part of their riches when the ship sunk, and he being the only one then on deck swam off and reached the boat. They remained an hour or more, beating about where the ship went down, in hopes that some of the submerged crew might escape from the hold and rise to the surface. The fog still hid the shore, so that they knew not on which side of the coast they lay, and, before they had time to think much of their loss, or to form any plans for the future, a ship, with sails and rigging all out of order, loomed in the mist, within speaking distance.

There was not a soul to be seen on the dirty-looking craft. Black hailed her with the usual questions. No response.

*Read the full story here.

The Magic of the Horse-Shoe With Other Folk-Lore Notes by Robert Means Lawrence [1898]

The horse-shoe figures often in traditions of the sea as a protection to sailors. When the ghostly ship of the Flying Dutchman meets another vessel, some of its uncanny crew approach the latter in a boat and beg them to take charge of a packet of letters. These letters must be nailed to the mast, else some misfortune will overtake the ship; especially if there be no Bible on board, nor any horse-shoe fastened to the foremast.

The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore by Patricia Monaghan

Davy Jones Scottish and Welsh folkloric figure. “Davy Jones’s Locker”, a common name for the ocean, appears to derive from a Celtic god who entered his Otherworld kingdom through water. Although most rivers in Celtic lands were named for goddesses, a few in Britain have been derived from the Celtic root word taff, “stream”, which could have been Christianized into Davy. This might explain the first name, but what about Jones? Scholars point to a Scottish god of the ocean with the slightly similar name – Shoney, who lived in the Otherworld where he imprisoned those who drowned. Thus the familiar Davy Jones may descend from a Celtic divinity whose lockup was the briny deep.

Shoney Scottish god. Until the 1600s, a tradition on the Isle of Lewis and Harris honored this otherwise obscure divinity of the sea. Every Samhain the fisher folk of the island would carry out a mug of ale and pour it into the ocean, calling out to Shoney to accept the mug in return for filling the boats with fish.

*More can be read in the book.

Encyclopedia of Demons in World Religions and Cultures by Theresa Bane

Shony
Variations: Shellycoat, Shoney, Shoney of the Lews, Sjofn
Shony, the demon of death in ancient Scottish lore, was originally a sea demon described as a
large man with thick, shaggy hair covering his head and a ridge of fins running down his back.
Yearly human sacrifices were once made to him by slitting the throat of a crewman and throwing
him overboard. Ship builders would bind a man to the logs used to roll a new boat into the water
in the hopes that it would please him. Shony then evolved into a god of the sea who appeared on
land, wearing strands of shells that clattered, announcing his presence. Offerings of ale were
made to Shony at Hallowtide in hopes that he would let seaweed wash up on the shore.
Evolving yet again, this time into a trickster, he would pretend to be a drowning man and when
about to be rescued would laugh and swim away.
Preying on fishermen and sailors, Shony keeps the souls he captures in his castle of jagged coral
that lies on the ocean floor in the North Sea. Sometimes he is said to be off the coast of Scotland.
It was the ancient custom not to try to rescue a man who fell overboard because Shony had to
receive his annual quota of souls. If an attempt was made it was said that Shony would take the
rescuer and leave the would-be victim alive in his place.
Shony is similar to, and possibly the predecessor of, Davey Jones and “the old John” in that he
keeps those who drown at sea eternally in his realm.

*More can be read in the book.

Further Reading:

• Davy Jones’s locker
• The Real Story Behind The “Davy Jones’ Locker”
• Davy Jones – Legend, Facts and Biography of Famous Pirate
• Old Sea Legends: The Incredible Story of Davy Jones and His Locker
• Davy Jones
• The Tale of Davy Jones
• Davy Jones
• Davy Jones’ Legacy
• Fiddler’s Green
• Davy Jones
• Davy Jones’s Locker
• Flying Dutchman
• The Story Of ‘The Flying Dutchman’
• The Legend of the Flying Dutchman, the Ghost Ship of the Cape
• Flying Dutchman
• Ghost Ship – The Mysterious Flying Dutchman Story
• The Cape of Ghosts
• Van Hunks and the Devil
• Van Hunks and the Devil
• Davy Jones’ Locker: A Spooky History

Folklore in a Nutshell by Ronel

It seems that Davy Jones is the more modern version of the ancient Scottish sea god Shoney. For both, the briny deep is where they keep the imprisoned drowned.

Shoney, though, expected certain things from those who dared go on the sea. Some had to offer him ale once a year, usually on Samhain, to make sure the fish could be caught and that seaweed would wash out on the beach. And, of course, there was the human sacrifices he liked: from yearly sacrifices where every ship had a crew member’s throat slid before being thrown overboard to ship builders strapping a man to the bottom of the logs used to launch a new ship, it was a bloody affair.

Davy Jones only seem to expect people to not be rescued when they fall overboard as he has a quota of drowned souls he needs to collect for his locker.

By either name, this fae is bound to the sea and death.

Davy Jones in Modern Culture

Movie

The Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise, of course!

“Do you fear death? Do you fear that dark abyss? All your deeds laid bare. All your sins punished. I can offer you…an escape.“―Davy Jones^[src]

Davy Jones was the ruler of the Seven Seas, a supernatural force condemned for eternity to captain the Flying Dutchman. Once a man who “ran afoul of that which vexes all men,” Jones became as much sea creature as he was human. A fearsome captain, a ruthless and heartless beast, striking terror into the bravest of sailors as the devil of the deep, he became the stuff of various myths and legends of Pirate Lore, particularly relating to the Dutchman and Davy Jones’ Locker.

In one particular legend, Davy Jones was a great sailor until he fell in love with the sea goddess Calypso. He would be given the Flying Dutchman as well as the sacred task of ferrying souls who died at sea to the worlds beyond.

Learn more about Davy Jones here.

“Jack Sparrow is taken, body and soul, to a place not of death, but punishment. The worst fate a person can bring upon himself…stretching on forever. That’s what awaits at Davy Jones’ Locker.“―Tia Dalma^[src]

Davy Jones’ Locker, also referred to as the Land of the Dead or Land Beyond Death,^[1] was a dimension to which souls claimed by the sea, or devoured by the Kraken, were sent. Though it was sometimes used as a term to refer to the bottom of the ocean, Davy Jones’ Locker was a barren wasteland. People imprisoned there were technically not dead in the general sense of the word. Whereas, most who died were allowed to have their souls move on to some form of afterlife, Davy Jones’ Locker acted as a form of purgatory.

Learn more about Davy Jones’ Locker here.

“Consider yourself blessed that ye never had dealings with him who collects the souls of sailors and binds them to service before his ship. I was a ‘guest’ aboard his ship—maybe you’ve heard of it?—the Flying Dutchman. Aye. The same terrible vessel whose very timbers are cut from the bodies and souls of doomed seamen.“―Torrents to Jack Sparrow^[src]

The Flying Dutchman was an infamous supernatural ghost ship. Originally, the Dutchman held the sacred task of collecting all the poor souls who died at sea and ferrying them to the afterlife. During the Golden Age of Piracy, the Dutchman would become a ship feared by many across the seven seas.

Learn more about the Flying Dutchman here.

TV Show

SpongeBob SquarePants

Davy Jones’ locker is a locker full of smelly gym socks. It is associated with the Flying Dutchman and appears in the episodes “Born Again Krabs,” “SpongeBob SquarePants vs. The Big One,” and “The Curse of Bikini Bottom.” It is the underwater equivalent of the underworld. In SpongeBob Comics No. 55 and SpongeBob Comics No. 56, the locker is a fully sentient character.

Davy Jones’ locker is a rusty gym locker that is filled with smelly socks. In the episodes, it seems to have green goo at the bottom of it. The purpose of it is to torture whoever is in it.

Learn more about it’s role in SpongeBob SquarePants here.

During all of his appearances, the Flying Dutchman proves to be anything but a “friendly ghost.” Though his role in the series is to be the devil of the sea, he constantly varies from a sea demon to a restless soul or even as a psychopompic judge to the dead. The Flying Dutchman has been consistently shown to be gruff, malicious and even downright sadistic, scaring people and stealing their souls out simply for fun, and in his first full appearance in “Scaredy Pants,” he attempts to steal the souls of everyone in the Krusty Krab simply because SpongeBob’s ridiculous costume as the Flying Dutchman was the ultimate insult to his image. The latter trait shows that he is extremely prideful.

Learn more about the Flying Dutchman here.

He is a powerful ghost who haunts the ocean, named after the legendary ghost ship of the same name. He is of enormous size compared to the other characters and captains a floating ghost ship with a green glow similar to his own, of which he appears to be the sole permanent crew member. He appears to be mainly interested in “scaring” undersea creatures rather than actually causing serious harm.

Learn more about the Flying Dutchman as a villain here.

Opera — though originally composed and performed in 1843

Der fliegende Holländer

Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman), WWV 63, is a German-language opera, with libretto and music by Richard Wagner. The central theme is redemption through love. Wagner conducted the premiere at the Königliches Hoftheater Dresden in 1843.

Wagner claimed in his 1870 autobiography Mein Leben that he had been inspired to write the opera following a stormy sea crossing he made from Riga to London in July and August 1839. In his 1843 Autobiographic Sketch, Wagner acknowledged he had taken the story from Heinrich Heine‘s retelling of the legend in his 1833 satirical novel The Memoirs of Mister von Schnabelewopski (Aus den Memoiren des Herrn von Schnabelewopski).^[1]

This work shows early attempts at operatic styles that would characterise his later music dramas. In Der fliegende Holländer Wagner uses a number of leitmotifs (literally, “leading motifs”) associated with the characters and themes. The leitmotifs are all introduced in the overture, which begins with a well-known ocean or storm motif before moving into the Dutchman and Senta motifs.

Wagner originally wrote the work to be performed without intermission – an example of his efforts to break with tradition – and, while today’s opera houses sometimes still follow this directive, it is also performed in a three-act version.

From Wikipedia

Davy Jones in My Writing

Origin of the Fae: Davy Jones

Once known as the Celtic sea god Shoney, Davy Jones has moved from just terrorising those on the ocean to wherever he is needed. Bringing moral judgement on mortals and half-fae alike, Davy Jones and his skeleton crew that mans the Flying Dutchman roams the mortal realm, bringing madness, despair and death to those deserving of it through their dishonest, cruel or criminal ways. He usually looks like a bearded sea captain from the seventeenth century, but can appear as he wishes. His victims go to a part of the Otherworld ruled by water fae who specialise in torturing souls.

See him in action:

Solstice Shenanigans (Faery Tales #7)

With his rival, Davy Jones appears in A Night’s Quest, one of the short stories in Solstice Shenanigans, though he isn’t outright named.

She watched them, reading their expressions as easily as she read their thoughts, and found the man she was looking for.

‘Not your usual look.’

‘You can paint your nails gold, but I dare shave and dress in something from this decade and you just have to comment.’

‘I almost didn’t recognise you.’

She watched a young woman glaring at everyone and making snide remarks to the barman; her outfit belonging to a decade long past.

‘The point, my dear.’ Fog curled around him, the faint impression of his ship and crew edging in from another realm.

Fate sniffed. She surveyed the humans, searching for the perfect foil. Several men had ridiculous beards that hid their expressions; masks that couldn’t hide the truth in their eyes.

‘How will we divvy up the loot?’ he asked.

A Night’s Quest, Solstice Shenanigans, Faery Tales #7, Ronel Janse van Vuuren

Where did you hear about Davy Jones for the first time? Any folklore on this subject you’d like to share? Check out my Pinterest board dedicated to this creature.

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