Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age
Story of the Day Weekend Edition
Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age (video)
by Marcus Rediker
In the early afternoon of July 12, 1726, William Fly ascended Boston's gallows to be hanged for piracy. His body was nimble in manner, like a sailor going aloft; his rope-roughened hands carried a nosegay of flowers; his weather-beaten face had "a Smiling Aspsect. He showed no guilt, no shame, and no contrition. Indeed, as attending minister Cotton Mather noted, he "look'd about him unconcerned." But once he stood on the gallows, he became concerned, although not in the way anyone might have expected. His demeanor quickened, and he immediatley took charge of the stage of death. He threw the hanging rope over the beam, made it fast, and carefully inspected the noose that would go around his neck. He soon turned to the hangman in disappointment and reproached him "for not understanding his Trade." But Fly, a sailor who knew the art of tying knots, took mercy on the novice. He offered to teach him how to tie a proper noose. Then Fly, "with his own Hands[,] rectified Matters, to render all things more Convenient and Effectual," retying the knot himself as the multitude who had gathered around the gallows looked on in astonishment. He informed the hangman and the crowd that "he was not afraid to die," that "he had wrong'd no Man." Mather explained that he was determeined to die "a brave fellow."
When the time came for last words on that awful occasion, Mather wanted Fly and his fellow pirates to act as preachers-- that is, he wanted them to provide examples and warnings to those who were assembled to watch the execution. They all complied. Samuel Cole, Henry Greenville, and George Condick, perhaps hoping for a last-minute pardon, stood penitently before the crowd and warned all to obey their parents and superiors and not to curse, drink, whore, or profane the Lord's day. These three pirates acknowledge the justice of the proceedings against them, and they thanked the ministers for their assistance. Fly, however, did not ask for forgiveness, did not praise the authorities, and did not affirm the values of Christianity, as he was supposed to do, but he did issue a warning. Addressing the port-city crowd thick with ship captains and sailors, he proclaimed his final, fondest wish: that "all Masters of Vessels might take Warning by the Fate of the Captain (meaning Captain Green) that he had murder'd, and to pay Sailors their Wages when due, and to treat them better; saying, that their Barbarity to them made so many turn Pyrates." Fly thus used his last breath to protest the conditions of work at sea, what he called "Bad Usage." He would be launched into eternity with the brash threat of mutiny on his lips... (full video)
Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age (video)
by Marcus Rediker
In the early afternoon of July 12, 1726, William Fly ascended Boston's gallows to be hanged for piracy. His body was nimble in manner, like a sailor going aloft; his rope-roughened hands carried a nosegay of flowers; his weather-beaten face had "a Smiling Aspsect. He showed no guilt, no shame, and no contrition. Indeed, as attending minister Cotton Mather noted, he "look'd about him unconcerned." But once he stood on the gallows, he became concerned, although not in the way anyone might have expected. His demeanor quickened, and he immediatley took charge of the stage of death. He threw the hanging rope over the beam, made it fast, and carefully inspected the noose that would go around his neck. He soon turned to the hangman in disappointment and reproached him "for not understanding his Trade." But Fly, a sailor who knew the art of tying knots, took mercy on the novice. He offered to teach him how to tie a proper noose. Then Fly, "with his own Hands[,] rectified Matters, to render all things more Convenient and Effectual," retying the knot himself as the multitude who had gathered around the gallows looked on in astonishment. He informed the hangman and the crowd that "he was not afraid to die," that "he had wrong'd no Man." Mather explained that he was determeined to die "a brave fellow."
When the time came for last words on that awful occasion, Mather wanted Fly and his fellow pirates to act as preachers-- that is, he wanted them to provide examples and warnings to those who were assembled to watch the execution. They all complied. Samuel Cole, Henry Greenville, and George Condick, perhaps hoping for a last-minute pardon, stood penitently before the crowd and warned all to obey their parents and superiors and not to curse, drink, whore, or profane the Lord's day. These three pirates acknowledge the justice of the proceedings against them, and they thanked the ministers for their assistance. Fly, however, did not ask for forgiveness, did not praise the authorities, and did not affirm the values of Christianity, as he was supposed to do, but he did issue a warning. Addressing the port-city crowd thick with ship captains and sailors, he proclaimed his final, fondest wish: that "all Masters of Vessels might take Warning by the Fate of the Captain (meaning Captain Green) that he had murder'd, and to pay Sailors their Wages when due, and to treat them better; saying, that their Barbarity to them made so many turn Pyrates." Fly thus used his last breath to protest the conditions of work at sea, what he called "Bad Usage." He would be launched into eternity with the brash threat of mutiny on his lips... (full video)
posted by Isaac at 1:27 AM
1 Comments:
Hi.
Fabulous story! Great blog.
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