Originally, the saying was "The devil to pay and no pitch hot." In the old wooden-hulled ships, devil seams joined the external hull timbers with the deck planking; there were also references to a devil seam back aft, where the hull timbers join at the rudder post. Seams were caulked, or sealed, by jamming oakum fibre into the gaps, then smearing the seam with melted pitch or tar. If one of these seams worked open in rough weather, a great deal of water could be shipped before it was repaired. This term is probably the origin of the term 'hell to pay'.
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