Published: Wednesday, 12th July, 2006 08:55
Pirates evil baddie was no stranger to Smollett
By Kirsteen Paterson
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THANKS to a big-screen blockbuster, one 'groundbreaking' novelist may hit the big-time again.
The big-budget flick, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, has connections with famous Renton author Tobias Smollett.
Smollett is credited with making the first recorded reference to one of the key characters of the movie — the mythical sea demon Davy Jones.
The beast is mentioned in Smollett's novel The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, a best-seller of its day.
The movie was released in the UK last week and is raking in ticket sales across the globe.
It stars heart-throb Johnny Depp and tells the story of Captain Jack Sparrow as he battles half-man, half-octopus Davy Jones for his soul.
The big-screen baddie breathes new life into the folk tale of the 'devil of the seas', a demon who caused boats to sink and sailors to drown.
Smollett’s Peregrine Pickle was published in 1751, and follows the main character through Europe at a time when sea-faring was a dangerous pursuit.
In it, Smollett — who travelled the Caribbean as a ship's doctor and married a Jamaican heiress — describes Davy Jones as `a fiend that presides over all the evil spirits of the deep` who is seen `on the eve of hurricanes, ship-wrecks, and other disasters`.
While Smollett describes the monster as a horned, smoke-breathing demon with three rows of teeth, a tail and saucer eyes, the big-screen version is a slimier creature with a beard of tentacles.
But despite the differences, experts on Smollett, who grew up in Dalquhurn and was schooled in Dumbarton, say he would love the movie.
Gartocharn `Smollett buff` Iain Stewart said: `It doesn't surprise me that he recorded the myth, because he was a ship's surgeon and he was surrounded by the folk-lore of the sea.
`The film would appeal to him because the books are all about the adventures and the films are rollicking and gung ho. Everyone gets blown apart, and Smollett served in several sea-battles in the Caribbean as a saw-bones.`
Ian Baillie of West Dunbartonshire Libraries says the flick is a `chance to let people read his works again`.
He said: `They're great fun. He was a ground-breaker.`
A renowned writer in his day, Smollett's descendants are proud of his legacy, and Gina Telfer Smollett, who lives near Loch Lomond, says she can't wait to see the movie.
She said: `I'm dying to see it. He had a great affection for the Caribbean, because he married a Jamaican woman and he was an adventurous fellow.`
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