Nix’s Mate: The Gibbeting Site of Pirate William Fly

You are now on the Long Wharf Pier on the Boston Harbor Walk. If you had a compass, you could look toward the Harbor in the direction at approximately 110°ESE. Depending on the weather on the day of your visit, you might be able to make out a speck far out in the harbor, just east of Long Island that marks the island of Nix’s Mate where Pirate William Fly was gibbeted in 1726.

Nix’s Mates houses some of the most prominent tales of classic pirates in the Boston area from the early eighteenth century. One pirate in particular, William Fly, literally became the center piece of the island in 1726. Here, he was gibbeted, or hung in chains. One can think of gibbeting similar to how farmers use a scarecrow to try to prevent birds from eating their livestock, only in the pirating world, it warned sailors against considering piracy. While there are several explanations of the reason for Fly’s hanging, the most traditional tale proposes that he supposedly murdered his captain in the middle of the night.

William Fly’s prominence in the realm of piracy should be taken with a grain of salt. For starters, Fly was notoriously unpredictable in his pirate career. The eighteenth minister Cotton Mather had special interests in the moral aspects of piracy and attempted to convince condemned pirates of the error of their ways states. He stated that Fly’s “unwillingness to sin by lying [is] ironic, since it masked even greater sins, pride and hatred.”[1] Often times, Fly threw tantrums that were “‘the most desperate ragings […] cursing the very heavens & in effect the God that judged him.’”[2] Fly’s raionale for piracy must always be put into perspective with regards to his poor temperament.

It is worth noting that Fly chose piracy, as opposed to other sailors of his time who were forced into it. Fly turned to piracy rather than continue with maritime sailing because he was drawn to “its anarchic freedoms over the rigors of maritime hierarchy. He had already sailed on one pirate ship and, rather than endure mistreatment, decided again to take his chances as a pirate, discarding lawful submission in favor of ruthless action.”[3] Legend has it that “Fly, having united with him several of the crew, cast the captain and mate into the sea, took the Snow, changed its name to the [Fame’s Revenge], and ‘set out pirating.’”[4] As a consequence, he was hanged and gibbeted on Nix’s Mate, marking it as a “moment of terror.”[5] Non-pirate state officials intended this particular gibbeting “to instill fear in sailors who might wish to become pirates.”[6] During the Golden Age of Piracy, state officials did everything in their power to prevent sailors from abandoning their maritime duties and from joining pirate crews.

In addition to the legends of William Fly, several different pirate tales allude to the origin of affixing the name of Nix’s Mate to the island. Frequently, “the legend which is often told down the Harbor concerns the mate of a Captain Nix. The mate was accused of murdering his captain and was taken to the island to be hanged for the crime. Before he was swung off into eternity, he is alleged to have declared that as proof of his innocence the island would some day disappear.”[7] Since the island has since eroded with the only remaining vegetation subaquatic, some people may interpret this as evidence of the legend. Others speculate that the island was “owned by Nix, [and thus became] known as Nix’s Mate”[8].

Regardless of how Nix’s Mate came to be, it remains an important site in pirate history. Its location in Boston Harbor made it the perfect site to display the gibbeted corpse of William Fly to instill fear in passing sailors, and to warn them against falling to piracy. Ultimately, the history of Fly’s gibbeting shows us the seriousness of classic piracy. It’s not all the “yo ho ho’s” and peg legs we often account with pirates.

— Kat Jones

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[1] Daniel E. Williams, “Puritans and Pirates: A Confrontation between Cotton Mather and William Fly in 1726.” Early American Literature 22, no. 3 (1987): 242. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.25056676&site=eds-live&scope=site.
[2] Marcus Rediker, Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates In The Golden Age. (London: Verso 2012), 4
[3] Daniel E. Williams, “Puritans and Pirates: A Confrontation between Cotton Mather and William Fly in 1726.” Early American Literature 22, no. 3 (1987): 233, 247. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.25056676&site=eds-live&scope=site.
[4] Samuel G. Drake, The History and Antiquities of Boston: the Capital of Massachusetts and Metropolis of New England, from Its Settlement in 1630, to the Year 1770; Also an Introductory History of the Discovery and Settlement of New England; with Notes, Critical and Illustrative. (Boston: Published by the author, 1857), 573. https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=tIUlAQAAMAAJ&pg=GBS.PA573. (accessed November 03, 2019).
[5] Marcus Rediker, Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates In The Golden Age. (London: Verso 2012), 5
Marcus Rediker, Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates In The Golden Age. (London: Verso 2012), 5
[7] Edward Rowe Snow and Jeremy Dentremont, The Islands of Boston Harbor (Beverly, MA: Commonwealth Editions, 2002), 80.
[8] Edward Rowe Snow and Jeremy Dentremont, The Islands of Boston Harbor )Beverly, MA: Commonwealth Editions, 2002).

Pictured: Nix's Mate. William Fly, who was gibbeted at Nix's Mate, as represented for Allen & Ginter cigarettes c.1888.

**To go to Rachel Wall (Site 2), head west on Long Wharf. Walk 40ft and arrive at Site 2.**