In 1834, Heine wrote a novel retelling the legend. Sir Walter Scott, 1813, had mentioned the phantom ship in "Rokeby." The first mention in English was in 1795, as noted above, but similar legends go back to the ancient Greeks.
In 1843, Wagner premiered the opera, based on Heine and Marryat, "Der fliegende Hollander," the music of which inspired compositions for the piano and other instruments. Several are at American Memory.

Some claim the 'Dutchman' stories were based on Captain Bernard Fokke, called a flying captain because of his swift journey's to and from Java.

Blackwood's Magazine, 1821, seems to have been the source of the name van der Decken, with the story moved to the Cape of Good Hope (author anon.); "Vanderdecken's Message Home,...". Marryat, 1839, wrote "The Phantom Ship," basis for the later "Het Vliegend Schip" by the Dutchman, Romer. Edward Fitzball (1826) wrote a novel, "The Flying Dutchman." In Dutch versions, the captain's name often is Stratten.
On the stage, Henry Irving played the lead in Belasco's 1878 play, "Vanderdecken."

In Canada, a legendary ship plying the Northwest Passage has been the subject of a recent thread. The tale may have been inspired by the legend of the Dutchman.

A legend probably known in every nation that produced sea-faring people.