Davy Jones's locker

Davy Jones' locker
Davy Jones' Locker, by John Tenniel, 1892
First appearanceFour Years Voyages of Capt. George Roberts (1726)
GenreNautical folklore
In-universe information
TypeEuphemism for oceanic abyss, the resting place for sailors drowned at sea.
CharactersDavy Jones
Davy Jones pictured by George Cruikshank in 1832, as described by Tobias Smollett in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle[1]

Davy Jones' locker is a metaphor for the oceanic 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).

The origins of the name of Davy Jones, the sailors' devil, are unclear, with a 19th-century dictionary tracing Davy Jones to a "ghost of Jonah". Other explanations of this nautical superstition have been put forth, including an incompetent sailor or a pub owner who kidnapped sailors.

  1. ^ However, the depicted character is a fake created by Pipes, Perry and Pickle to scare Mr. Trunnion; see: Smollett, Tobias (1751). The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle. London: D. Wilson. p. 66.

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