In Youthful blooming Years was I, when I that Practice took;
Of perpetrating Piracy, for filthy gain did look.
To Wickedness we all were bent, our Lusts for to fulfil;
To rob at Sea was our Intent, and perpetrate all Ill.
I pray the Lord preserve you all and keep you from this End;
O let Fitz-Gerald’s great downfall unto your welfare tend.
I to the Lord my Soul bequeath, accept thereof I pray,
My Body to the Earth bequeath, dear Friend, adieu for aye.”
The gallows were set up between high-and-low water mark on a point of land projecting into the harbor, then and now known as Gravelly Point. At that time there was no street or way that gave direct or convenient access and the crowds that gathered to witness the execution went around by what afterwards was known as Walnut Street by the almshouse, or filled the boats and small vessels that lined the shore. Most of the condemned had something to say when on the gallows usually advising all people, especially young persons, to beware of the sins that had brought them to such an unhappy state. The execution took place on July 19, 1723, between twelve and one o’clock, and twenty-six men were “hanged by the neck until dead” in accordance with the sentence of the Court.