Davy Jones, Davy, or old Davy, subs. phr. (nautical).—The spirit of the
sea; specifically the sailors’ devil. [For suggested derivation, see
Davy Jones’s locker, and for synonyms, Skipper.]
1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. xiii. This same Davy Jones,
according to the mythology of sailors, is the fiend that presides
over all the evil spirits of the deep.
1790. C. Dibdin, Sea Songs. And if to old Davy I should go, friend
Poll, Why you will ne’er hear of me more.
c. 1800. C. Dibdin, The Birthday, Act I., Sc. 2. June. When your
back’s turn’d she’s for ... sending you in a gale to old Davy.
Davy Jones’ (or Davy’s) locker, subs. phr. (nautical).—The ocean;
specifically, the grave of them that perish at sea. The popular
derivation (= a corruption of ‘Jonah’s locker,’ i.e., the place where
Jonah was kept and confined, and by implication the grave of all gone
to the bottom, drowned or dead) is conjectural. The following, however,
may be an additional link in the chain of evidence.
1628. Bishop Andrewes, Ninety-six Sermons, p. 515 (fol.) Of any,
that hath beene in extreme perill, we use to say: he hath beene
where Ionas was; by Iona’s going downe the Whales throat, by Him
againe comming forth of the Whales mouth, we expresse, we even
point out, the greatest extremity, and the greatest deliverence
that can be.
[Cf., quots. under Davy Jones.]
1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1836. Marryat, Midshipman Easy, ch. xxvii. By de holy poker, Massa
Easy, but that terrible sort of gale the other day, anyhow. I tink
one time we all go to Davy Jones’s locker.
1842. Comic Almanack, p. 324. There is no reason right why Jones’s
kid Should be consign’d to Davy Jones’s locker.
1851. Notes and Queries, 1 S., iii., p. 478. If a sailor is killed
in a sea-skirmish, or falls overboard and is drowned, or any other
fatality occurs which necessitates the consignment of his remains
to the ‘great deep,’ his surviving messmates speak of him as one
who has been sent to Davy Jones’ locker.
Davy putting on the coppers for the parsons, phr. (nautical).—The
indications of a coming storm.
Davy Jones’ natural children, subs. phr. (nautical).—Smugglers;
sea-rovers; pirates.