That's the one whose enemy's a boy who never grows up, right? Daft man.
That's fine, seems like he ain't as famous as he used to be these days. Funny, when I was younger you couldn't escape hearing about him—he'd disappeared in, what, 1696, 97? Long before I took to sea myself, but everyone I knew had a theory where he went.
Peter Pan, yep! Though I bet the story made him silly on purpose.
Oh, that makes sense, though. Sometimes a person just gets more famous with time, but a lot of the time people know stuff that's more recent better. Or stuff that's in stories. Plus, where you are makes a difference, too. Pretty much everyone in Japan knows about the Shinsengumi from history, but I think a lot of people from elsewhere mostly know them from anime.
Well, he is rather silly, if he's obsessing over some rascal instead of taking prizes.
I've never even heard of the Shinsengumi until right now, so fair point. Tell me about them and I'll tell you what I remember of Every, how does that sound?
Well, the Shinsengumi weren't around until after your time anyway, so you couldn't have heard of them before you came here. But sure! That sounds like fun.
They were a group of samurai that formed during the Bakumatsu at the end of the Tokugawa shogunate. The Shinsengumi supported the shogun, but they were... kinda doing things their own way. They're pretty famous though because they got involved in a lot of fights and assassinations, as well as having internal conflicts between members.
The shogunate's like the Japanese version of our Parliament, have I got that right? Like the House of Lords, specifically, and the shogun would be your prime minister. Though I can't say I've any idea what the Bakumatsu is—an era?
Henry Every was a pirate. Folks I knew used to call him "the Arch Pirate" and curse his name, because he raided the Gunsway—an Indian ship, laden with such treasure that if you ever laid a hand on a chest from that ship you'd never have to work again—and pissed off the East India Company so much they called him and his men "the enemy of all mankind." Nobody's seen hide nor hair of him in years since then, though they've caught and hanged some of his men.
Sort of. Except it wasn't democratic or anything like a parliament is. The shogun basically just ruled Japan. Technically in the emperor's name, but the emperor couldn't actually do anything until Emperor Meiji finally took control.
It's the name for an era, yeah, a time at the end of the Edo period. It means "end of the bakufu" which was what the shogunate government was called.
Oh, so he's basically a pirate who actually did what most pirates were hoping to do?
So a king in all but name, then, who only nominally had to answer to his emperor.
So these Shinsengumi were helping to try and keep a failing government together?
Something like that, aye. Most of us can only dream of pulling off such a score like that, but he managed it in, what, less than two years? But afterward they placed a price on his head so large that it was safer for him to vanish into thin air than to come back. No one knows what's happened to him, though I heard once from a greasy old captain on Nassau that he'd seen Every ruling a pirate kingdom on an island somewhere.
Oh, it was about way more than just who would rule Japan! Japan was still closed to the rest the world in your time, right? That changed when the black ships arrived, and people disagreed on whether it was better to open up to foreign trade and even westernize, or to try to stay separate from the rest the world. And other stuff like that.
Plus, a lot of people got involved because they didn't like how things were run, or just saw a chance to improve their standing by supporting one side or the end.
If he just disappeared then I can see why everyone talked about it though. Anytime there's a mystery like that it's just interesting, you know?
I believe so. At the very least, I never ran into anyone from Japan in the West Indies. I'm not surprised there was some conflict over trade, though—opening up to trade after so long spent in isolation can be difficult, especially in times like mine. What are the black ships?
Aye, it's been a great source of fascination and tall tales. I know when I was young I fancied he'd gone off to rule a little kingdom of his very own as well, but I've been at sea for long enough to know that she can be cruel and capricious even to those who love her best. Likelier to me that Every, and his share of the spoils from the Gunsway, are lying at the bottom of the sea somewhere.
The black ships were American warships that showed up at Japan and demanded the shogunate open the country to trade. Japan didn't have any ships or weapons even close to what they did at the time so it was a pretty big deal.
It'd be a pity if all that treasure went to waste, but I see what you mean. Storms or rough seas can be dangerous even for modern ships.
Right, but it also meant a lot of people lost faith in the shogunate's ability to rule and protect Japan, too. Or convinced ones who were already frustrated to do something about it.
I think normally most ships don't have to worry about running into those though. Probably.
And the Shinsengumi kept the faith even as things fell apart around them? Bit naive of them.
No, all most ships really need to worry about are storms, rogue waves, icebergs, getting too close to another ship's path, whirlpools, coming too close to land, and the occasional pirate.
I don't know if it was that simple... I mean, sure, some people probably stayed loyal just for honor's sake, at least partly, but that wasn't necessarily the only reason. The Tokugawa shogunate had been in power for a long time, so at least people already knew what they were dealing with, for example. And plenty of people were still opposed to opening the borders or allowing foreign people and goods into the country. It'd be a big change to everything, you know? So I'm sure there were a lot of reasons.
Not counting things like running low on supplies or something breaking with no way to fix it, right?
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That's fine, seems like he ain't as famous as he used to be these days. Funny, when I was younger you couldn't escape hearing about him—he'd disappeared in, what, 1696, 97? Long before I took to sea myself, but everyone I knew had a theory where he went.
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Oh, that makes sense, though. Sometimes a person just gets more famous with time, but a lot of the time people know stuff that's more recent better. Or stuff that's in stories. Plus, where you are makes a difference, too. Pretty much everyone in Japan knows about the Shinsengumi from history, but I think a lot of people from elsewhere mostly know them from anime.
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I've never even heard of the Shinsengumi until right now, so fair point. Tell me about them and I'll tell you what I remember of Every, how does that sound?
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Well, the Shinsengumi weren't around until after your time anyway, so you couldn't have heard of them before you came here. But sure! That sounds like fun.
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So who or what are they?
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Also, they wore really flashy uniforms.
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Henry Every was a pirate. Folks I knew used to call him "the Arch Pirate" and curse his name, because he raided the Gunsway—an Indian ship, laden with such treasure that if you ever laid a hand on a chest from that ship you'd never have to work again—and pissed off the East India Company so much they called him and his men "the enemy of all mankind." Nobody's seen hide nor hair of him in years since then, though they've caught and hanged some of his men.
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It's the name for an era, yeah, a time at the end of the Edo period. It means "end of the bakufu" which was what the shogunate government was called.
Oh, so he's basically a pirate who actually did what most pirates were hoping to do?
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So these Shinsengumi were helping to try and keep a failing government together?
Something like that, aye. Most of us can only dream of pulling off such a score like that, but he managed it in, what, less than two years? But afterward they placed a price on his head so large that it was safer for him to vanish into thin air than to come back. No one knows what's happened to him, though I heard once from a greasy old captain on Nassau that he'd seen Every ruling a pirate kingdom on an island somewhere.
Personally, I think he drowned.
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Plus, a lot of people got involved because they didn't like how things were run, or just saw a chance to improve their standing by supporting one side or the end.
If he just disappeared then I can see why everyone talked about it though. Anytime there's a mystery like that it's just interesting, you know?
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Aye, it's been a great source of fascination and tall tales. I know when I was young I fancied he'd gone off to rule a little kingdom of his very own as well, but I've been at sea for long enough to know that she can be cruel and capricious even to those who love her best. Likelier to me that Every, and his share of the spoils from the Gunsway, are lying at the bottom of the sea somewhere.
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It'd be a pity if all that treasure went to waste, but I see what you mean. Storms or rough seas can be dangerous even for modern ships.
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Doubly so for ships like mine own Jackdaw. Especially if you happen to cross into the path of a kraken or a sea serpent. [November Was Fucking Rough.]
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I think normally most ships don't have to worry about running into those though. Probably.
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No, all most ships really need to worry about are storms, rogue waves, icebergs, getting too close to another ship's path, whirlpools, coming too close to land, and the occasional pirate.
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Not counting things like running low on supplies or something breaking with no way to fix it, right?