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Captain William Fly (d. July 12, 1726) was an English pirate who raided New England shipping until he was captured by some of the crew of a seized ship. He was hanged in Boston, Massachusetts. Reportedly, Fly approached the hanging with complete disdain and even reproached the hangman for doing a poor job, remaking the noose and placing it about his neck with his own two hands. His body was hung in chains (gibbeted) on Nixes Mate Island in Boston Harbor, to serve as a warning to other sailors not to turn to piracy.
His last words were, roughly, a warning to captains to treat their sailors well and pay them on time. Cotton Mather had tried, and failed, to get Fly to publicly repent.
William Fly's career as a pirate began with a mutiny on the slave ship "Elizabeth", sailing from Jamaica for West Africa. Having captured the ship, the mutineers sewed a Jolly Roger flag, renamed the ship "Fames' Revenge", elected William Fly as captain, and sailed to the coast of North Carolina and north toward New England. They captured five ships in about two months before being captured themselves.
[edit] Further reading
- Marcus Rediker, "Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age", Beacon Press, 2004
- Lyons Press, "The History of the Lives and Bloody Exploits of the Most Noted Pirates: Their Trials and Executions", Lyons Press, 2004 ed.
- Capt. Charles Johnson, "A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates", 1724
- See the chapter "The Vial Poured out Upon the Sea" from Daniel E. Williams Pillars of Salt. (Madison: Madison House Press, 1993; pgs 110 - 117) for an interesting description of William Fly's execution.
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