On May 7, 1694, in the Spanish port of Corona, Henry Every had been waiting eight months for a letter. The son of a tavern keeper from Devonshire, he had worked his way up to become the First Mate of a Spanish ship named Charles II. England and Spain were then allied against the French, and Every awaiting a Letter of Marque.
But Every grew bored of waiting without pay. Along with 150 men, he mutinied and set sail for London. There, according to popular belief, he wrote a ballad asking brave boys ‘whose courage is bold’ to join him so he could gut them with gold.
He renamed his ship to the ‘Fancy’ and steered it to Madagascar – a prominent pirate hub. Along the way, he issued a proclamation announcing that he would not molest an English ship. His target was bigger and perhaps, wealthier – the rich Indian vessels of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.
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