Alexander Selkirk (167613 December 1721) was a Scottish
privateer
A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...
and
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
officer who spent four years and four months as a
castaway
A castaway is a person who is cast adrift or ashore. While the situation usually happens after a shipwreck, some people voluntarily stay behind on a desert island, either to evade kidnapping, captors or the world in general. A person may also be ...
(1704–1709) after being
marooned by his captain, initially at his request, on
an uninhabited island in the
South Pacific Ocean
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
.
Selkirk was an unruly youth and joined
buccaneer
Buccaneers were a kind of privateer or free sailors, and pirates particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from the Restoration in 1660 u ...
ing voyages to the South Pacific during the
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...
. One such expedition was on ''
Cinque Ports
The confederation of Cinque Ports ( ) is a historic group of coastal towns in south-east England – predominantly in Kent and Sussex, with one outlier (Brightlingsea) in Essex. The name is Old French, meaning "five harbours", and alludes to ...
'', captained by Thomas Stradling, under the overall command of
William Dampier
William Dampier (baptised 5 September 1651; died March 1715) was an English explorer, pirate, privateer, navigator, and naturalist who became the first Englishman to explore parts of what is today Australia, and the first person to circumnavig ...
. Stradling's ship stopped to resupply at the uninhabited
Juan Fernández Islands
The Juan Fernández Islands () are a sparsely inhabited series of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, reliant on tourism and fishing. Situated off the coast of Chile, they are composed of three main volcanic islands: Robinson Crusoe Island, R ...
, west of South America, and Selkirk judged correctly that the craft was unseaworthy and asked to be left there. Selkirk's suspicions were soon justified, as ''Cinque Ports''
foundered near
Malpelo Island 400 km (250 mi) from the coast of what is now Colombia.
By the time he was eventually rescued by the privateer
Woodes Rogers
Woodes Rogers ( – 15 July 1732) was an English sea captain, privateer and colonial administrator who served as the List of governors of the Bahamas, governor of the Bahamas from 1718 to 1721 and again from 1728 to 1732. He is remembered ...
, who was accompanied by Dampier, Selkirk had become adept at hunting and making use of the resources that he found on the island. His story of survival was widely publicized after his return and became one of the reputed sources of inspiration for the fictional character
Robinson Crusoe
''Robinson Crusoe'' ( ) is an English adventure novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. Written with a combination of Epistolary novel, epistolary, Confessional writing, confessional, and Didacticism, didactic forms, the ...
of the English writer
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; 1660 – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, merchant and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translati ...
.
Early life and privateering
Alexander Selkirk was the son of a
shoemaker
Shoemaking is the process of making footwear.
Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or '' cordwainers'' (sometimes misidentified as cobblers, who repair shoes rather than make them). In the 18th cen ...
and
tanner in
Lower Largo
Lower Largo or Seatown of Largo is a village in Fife, Scotland, situated on Largo Bay along the north side of the Firth of Forth. It is east of, and contiguous with, Lundin Links.
Largo is an ancient fishing village in the parish of Largo, ...
,
Fife
Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...
, Scotland, born in 1676. In his youth, he displayed a quarrelsome and unruly disposition. He was summoned before the
Kirk Session
A session (from the Latin word ''sessio'', which means "to sit", as in sitting to deliberate or talk about something; sometimes called ''consistory'' or ''church board'') is a body of elected elders governing a particular church within presbyte ...
in August 1693 for his "indecent conduct in church", but he "did not appear, being gone to sea". He was back at Largo in 1701 when he again came to the attention of church authorities for assaulting his brothers.
Early on, he was engaged in
buccaneer
Buccaneers were a kind of privateer or free sailors, and pirates particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from the Restoration in 1660 u ...
ing. In 1703, he joined an expedition of English
privateer
A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...
and explorer
William Dampier
William Dampier (baptised 5 September 1651; died March 1715) was an English explorer, pirate, privateer, navigator, and naturalist who became the first Englishman to explore parts of what is today Australia, and the first person to circumnavig ...
to the
South Pacific Ocean
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
, setting sail from
Kinsale
Kinsale ( ; ) is a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland. Located approximately south of Cork (city), Cork City on the southeast coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon, and has a populatio ...
in Ireland on 11 September. They carried
letters of marque
A letter of marque and reprisal () was a government license in the Age of Sail that authorized a private person, known as a privateer or corsair, to attack and capture vessels of a foreign state at war with the issuer, licensing internationa ...
from the
Lord High Admiral authorizing their armed merchant ships to attack foreign enemies as the
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...
was then going on between England and Spain. Dampier was
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
of ''St George'' and Selkirk served on ''
Cinque Ports
The confederation of Cinque Ports ( ) is a historic group of coastal towns in south-east England – predominantly in Kent and Sussex, with one outlier (Brightlingsea) in Essex. The name is Old French, meaning "five harbours", and alludes to ...
'', ''St George''s companion ship, as
sailing master
The master, or sailing master, is a historical rank for a naval Officer (armed forces), officer trained in and responsible for the navigation of a sailing ship, sailing vessel.
In the Royal Navy, the master was originally a warrant officer who ...
under Captain Thomas Stradling. By this time, Selkirk must have had considerable experience at sea.
In February 1704, following a stormy passage around
Cape Horn
Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...
, the privateers fought a long battle with a well-armed French vessel, ''St Joseph'', only to have it escape to warn its Spanish allies of their arrival in the Pacific. A raid on the Panamanian gold mining town of
Santa María failed when their landing party was
ambush
An ambush is a surprise attack carried out by people lying in wait in a concealed position. The concealed position itself or the concealed person(s) may also be called an "". Ambushes as a basic military tactics, fighting tactic of soldi ...
ed. The easy capture of ''Asunción'', a heavily laden
merchantman, revived the men's hopes of plunder, and Selkirk was put in charge of the
prize ship. Dampier took off some much-needed provisions of wine, brandy, sugar, and flour, then abruptly set the ship free, arguing that the gain was not worth the effort. In May 1704, Stradling decided to abandon Dampier and strike out on his own.
Castaway

In September 1704, after parting ways with Dampier, Captain Stradling brought ''Cinque Ports'' to an island known to the Spanish as
Más a Tierra located in the uninhabited
Juan Fernández archipelago off the coast of
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
for a mid-expedition restocking of fresh water and supplies.
Selkirk had grave concerns about the
seaworthiness
Seakeeping ability or seaworthiness is a measure of how well-suited a watercraft is to conditions when underway. A ship or boat which has good seakeeping ability is said to be very seaworthy and is able to operate effectively even in high sea sta ...
of their vessel and wanted to make the necessary repairs before going any further. He declared that he would rather stay on Juan Fernández than continue in a dangerously leaky ship. Stradling took him up on the offer and landed Selkirk on the island with a
musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually dis ...
, a
hatchet
A hatchet (from the Old French language, Old French , a diminutive form of ''hache'', 'axe' of Germanic origin) is a Tool, single-handed striking tool with a sharp blade on one side used to cut and split wood, and a hammerhead on the other side ...
, a knife, a cooking pot, a
Bible
The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
, bedding and some clothes. Selkirk immediately regretted his rashness, but Stradling refused to let him back on board.
''Cinque Ports'' later foundered off the coast of what is now Colombia. Stradling and "six or seven of his Men" survived the loss of their ship but were forced to surrender to the Spanish. They were taken to
Lima
Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...
where they endured a harsh imprisonment. Stradling attempted escape after stealing a canoe in Lima, but was recaptured and punished. The Spanish governor threatened to send all the survivors to the mines. The survivors ultimately returned to England after four years of imprisonment.
Life on the island
At first, Selkirk remained along the shoreline of Más a Tierra. During this time, he ate
spiny lobsters and scanned the ocean daily for rescue, suffering all the while from loneliness, misery, and remorse. Hordes of raucous
sea lions
Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...
, gathering on the beach for the mating season, eventually drove him to the island's interior. Once inland, his way of life took a turn for the better. More foods were available there:
feral goat
The feral goat is the domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') when it has become established in the wild. Feral goats occur in many parts of the world.
Species
Feral goats consist of many breeds of domestic goats, all of which stem from the wild go ...
s—introduced by earlier sailors—provided him with meat and milk, while wild
turnip
The turnip or white turnip ('' Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''rapa'') is a root vegetable commonly grown in temperate climates worldwide for its white, fleshy taproot. Small, tender varieties are grown for human consumption, while larger varieties a ...
s, the leaves of the indigenous
cabbage tree and dried ''
Schinus'' fruits (
pink peppercorns) offered him variety and spice.
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include '' Neotoma'' (pack rats), '' Bandicota'' (bandicoo ...
s would attack him at night, but he was able to sleep soundly and in safety by domesticating and living near
feral cat
A feral cat or a stray cat is an unowned domestic cat (''Felis catus'') that lives outdoors and avoids human contact; it does not allow itself to be handled or touched, and usually remains hidden from humans. Feral cats may breed over dozens ...
s.

Selkirk proved resourceful in using materials that he found on the island: he forged a new knife out of
barrel
A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden stave (wood), staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers ...
hoops left on the beach; built two huts out of
pepper trees, one of which he used for cooking and the other for sleeping; and employed his musket to hunt goats and his knife to clean their carcasses. As his gunpowder dwindled, he had to chase prey on foot. During one such chase, he was badly injured when he tumbled from a cliff, lying helpless and unable to move for about a day. His prey had cushioned his fall, probably sparing him a broken back.
Childhood lessons learned from his father, a tanner, now served him well. For example, when his clothes wore out, he made new ones from hair-covered goatskins using a nail for sewing. As his shoes became unusable, he did not need to replace them, since his toughened, calloused feet made protection unnecessary. He sang
psalms
The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament.
The book is an anthology of B ...
and read from the Bible, finding it a comfort in his situation and a prop for his English.
During his sojourn on the island, two vessels came to anchor. Unfortunately for Selkirk, both were Spanish. Being British and a privateer, he would have faced a grim fate if captured and therefore did his best to hide. Once, he was spotted and chased by a group of Spanish sailors from one of the ships. His pursuers urinated beneath the tree in which he was hiding but failed to notice him. The would-be captors then gave up and sailed away.
Rescue

Selkirk's long-awaited deliverance came on 2 February 1709 by way of ''Duke'', a
privateer
A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...
ing ship
piloted by William Dampier, and its sailing companion ''Duchess''.
Thomas Dover
Thomas Dover (1660–1742), sometimes referred to as "Doctor Quicksilver", was an English physician. He is remembered for his common cold and fever medicine Dover's powder, his work with the poor in Bristol, and his privateering voyage alongs ...
led the landing party that met Selkirk. After four years and four months without human company, Selkirk was almost incoherent with joy. The ''Duke'' captain and leader of the expedition was
Woodes Rogers
Woodes Rogers ( – 15 July 1732) was an English sea captain, privateer and colonial administrator who served as the List of governors of the Bahamas, governor of the Bahamas from 1718 to 1721 and again from 1728 to 1732. He is remembered ...
, who wryly referred to Selkirk as the governor of the island. The agile castaway caught two or three goats a day and helped restore the health of Rogers' men, who had developed
scurvy
Scurvy is a deficiency disease (state of malnutrition) resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, fatigue, and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, anemia, decreased red blood cells, gum d ...
.
Captain Rogers was impressed by Selkirk's physical vigour, but also by the peace of mind that he had attained while living on the island, observing: "One may see that solitude and retirement from the world is not such an insufferable state of life as most men imagine, especially when people are fairly called or thrown into it unavoidably, as this man was." He made Selkirk ''Duke''s
second mate
A second mate (2nd mate) or second officer (2/O) is a licensed member of the deck department of a merchant ship holding a Second Mates Certificate of Competence, by an authorised governing state of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). ...
, later giving him command of one of their prize ships, ''Increase'', before it was ransomed by the Spanish.
Selkirk returned to privateering with a vengeance. At
Guayaquil
Guayaquil (), officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the largest city in Ecuador and also the nation's economic capital and main port. The city is the capital (political), capital of Guayas Province and the seat of Guayaquil Canton. The city is ...
in present-day Ecuador, he led a boat crew up the
Guayas River where several wealthy Spanish ladies had fled, and looted the gold and jewels they had hidden inside their clothing. His part in the hunt for treasure
galleons
Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships developed in Spain and Portugal.
They were first used as armed cargo carriers by Europeans from the 16th to 18th centuries during the Age of Sail, and they were the principal vessels drafted ...
along the coast of Mexico resulted in the capture of ''
Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación y Desengaño'', renamed ''Bachelor'', on which he served as sailing master under Captain Dover to the
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
. Selkirk completed the around-the-world voyage by the
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa.
A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...
as the sailing master of ''Duke'', arriving at
the Downs off the English coast on 1 October 1711. He had been away for eight years.
Later life and influence

Selkirk's experience as a castaway aroused a great deal of attention in Britain. His fellow crewman Edward Cooke mentioned Selkirk's ordeal in a book chronicling their privateering expedition, ''
A Voyage to the South Sea and Round the World'' (1712). A more detailed recounting was published by the expedition's leader, Rogers, within months. The following year, prominent essayist
Richard Steele
Sir Richard Steele ( – 1 September 1729) was an Anglo-Irish writer, playwright and politician best known as the co-founder of the magazine ''The Spectator (1711), The Spectator'' alongside his close friend Joseph Addison.
Early life
Steel ...
wrote an article about him for ''The Englishman'' newspaper. Selkirk appeared set to enjoy a life of ease and celebrity, claiming his share of ''Duke'' plundered wealth—about £800 (equivalent to £ today). However, legal disputes made the amount of any payment uncertain.
After a few months in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, he began to seem more like his former self again. However, he still missed his secluded and solitary moments, remarking, "I am now worth eight hundred pounds, but shall never be as ''happy'' as when I was not worth a
farthing." In September 1713, he was charged with assaulting a
shipwright
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces i ...
in
Bristol
Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
and might have been kept in confinement for two years. He returned to
Lower Largo
Lower Largo or Seatown of Largo is a village in Fife, Scotland, situated on Largo Bay along the north side of the Firth of Forth. It is east of, and contiguous with, Lundin Links.
Largo is an ancient fishing village in the parish of Largo, ...
, where he met Sophia Bruce, a young dairymaid. They eloped to London early and married on 4 March 1717. He was soon off to sea again, having enlisted in the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
. While on a visit to
Plymouth
Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
in 1720, he married a widowed innkeeper named Frances Candis. He was serving as an
officer
An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...
on board , engaged in an anti-
piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...
patrol off the west coast of Africa. The ship arrived near the mouth of the
River Gambia in March 1721 and lingered due to damage from bad weather. The locals took several crew hostage and ransomed them for "gold and food." As the ship sailed down the coast of
West Africa
West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...
, men went into the forests to cut wood and began to contract
yellow fever from the swarms of mosquitoes, and perhaps
typhoid
Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often ther ...
.
Four died in June and, by September, "so many men were dying a makeshift hospital was erected on shore" near
Cape Coast Castle
Cape Coast Castle () is one of about forty slave fort, "slave castles", or large commercial forts, built on the Gold Coast (region), Gold Coast of West Africa (now Ghana) by European traders. It was originally a Portuguese "feitoria" or Factory ( ...
. Selkirk became sick in November with the same symptoms as his crewmates. He died on 13 December 1721 along with shipmate William King, and both were
buried at sea
Burial at sea is the disposal of human remains in the ocean, normally from a ship, boat or aircraft. It is regularly performed by navies, and is done by private citizens in many countries.
Burial-at-sea services are conducted at many different ...
; three more died the following day.
When
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; 1660 – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, merchant and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translati ...
published ''
The Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe'' (1719), few readers could have missed the resemblance to Selkirk. An illustration on the first page of the novel shows "a rather melancholy-looking man standing on the shore of an island, gazing inland", in the words of the modern explorer
Tim Severin
Timothy Severin (25 September 1940 – 18 December 2020) was a British explorer, historian, and writer. Severin was noted for his work in retracing the legendary journeys of historical figures. Severin was awarded both the Founder's Medal ...
. He is dressed in the familiar hirsute goatskins, his feet and shins bare. Yet Crusoe's island is located not in the
mid-latitudes of the South Pacific but away in the
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
, where the furry attire would hardly be comfortable in the
tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...
heat. This incongruity supports the popular belief that Selkirk was a model for the fictional character, but most literary scholars now accept that he was "just one of many survival narratives that Defoe knew about".
In other literary works
In film
''
Selkirk, the Real Robinson Crusoe'' is a
stop motion
Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...
film by
Walter Tournier based on Selkirk's life. It premièred simultaneously in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay on 2 February 2012, distributed by
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
. It was the first full-length animated feature to be produced in Uruguay.
Commemoration

Selkirk has been memorialized in his Scottish birthplace.
Lord Aberdeen
George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen (28 January 178414 December 1860), styled Lord Haddo from 1791 to 1801, was a British statesman, diplomat and landowner, successively a Tory, Conservative and Peelite politician and specialist in fo ...
delivered a speech on 11 December 1885, after which his wife,
Lady Aberdeen, unveiled a bronze statue and plaque in memory of Selkirk outside a house on the site of his original home on the Main Street of Lower Largo. David Gillies of Cardy House, Lower Largo, a descendant of the Selkirks, donated the statue created by
Thomas Stuart Burnett.
The Scotsman is also remembered in his former island home. In 1869 the crew of placed a bronze tablet at a spot called Selkirk's Lookout on a mountain of Más a Tierra, Juan Fernández Islands, to mark his stay. On 1 January 1966 Chilean president
Eduardo Frei Montalva
Eduardo Nicanor Frei Montalva (; 16 January 1911 – 22 January 1982) was a Chileans, Chilean political leader. In his long political career, he was Minister of Public Works, president of his Christian Democratic Party (Chile), Christia ...
renamed Más a Tierra
Robinson Crusoe Island
Robinson Crusoe Island (, ) is the second largest of the Juan Fernández Islands, situated 670 km (362 nmi; 416 mi) west of San Antonio, Chile, San Antonio, Chile, in the South Pacific Ocean. It is the more populous of the inhabit ...
after Defoe's fictional character to attract tourists. The largest of the Juan Fernández Islands, known as
Más Afuera, became
Alejandro Selkirk Island, although Selkirk probably never saw that island since it is located to the west.
Archaeological findings
An
archaeological
Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
expedition to the Juan Fernández Islands in February 2005 found part of a nautical instrument that likely belonged to Selkirk. It was "a fragment of copper alloy identified as being from a pair of
navigational dividers" dating from the early 18th (or late 17th) century. Selkirk is the only person known to have been on the island at that time who is likely to have had dividers and was even said by Rogers to have had such instruments in his possession. The artifact was discovered while excavating a site not far from Selkirk's Lookout where the famous castaway is believed to have lived.
In 1825, during John Howell's research of Alexander Selkirk's biography, his "''flip-can''" was in the possession of his
great-grand-nephew John Selkirk, and Alexander's
musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually dis ...
was "in the possession of Major Lumsden of Lathallan."
[Howell (1829) chap. V, p. 136, 137]
See also
*
List of people who disappeared mysteriously at sea
Nile Kinnick
Throughout history, people have mysteriously disappeared at sea. The following is a list of known individuals who have mysteriously vanished in open waters, and whose whereabouts remain unknown. In most ocean deaths, bodies are never r ...
Notes
References
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Further reading
*
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External links
"Trapped on a Pacific Island: Scientists Research the Real Robinson Crusoe"by Marco Evers (6 February 2009) in ''
Spiegel Online
' () is a German news website. It was established in 1994 as ''Spiegel Online'' as a content mirror of the magazine ''Der Spiegel''. In 1995, the site began producing original stories and it introduced ''Spiegel Online International'' for artic ...
''
"Island Gives Up Secret of Real Robinson Crusoe"in ''
The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...
'' (22 Septem ber 2005)
"The Real Robinson Crusoe"by Bruce Selcraig (July 2005) in ''
Smithsonian''
An account of a trip to Selkirk's Islandby James S. Bruce and Mayme S. Bruce (Spring 1993) in ''The Explorers Journal''
"On a Piece of Stone: Alexander Selkirk on Greater Land"by Edward E. Leslie (1988) in ''Desperate Journeys, Abandoned Souls: True Stories of Castaways and Other Survivors'' (pp. 61–85)
Satellite imagery of the Juan Fernández Islandsfrom
Google Maps
Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panorama, interactive panoramic views of streets (Google Street View, Street View ...
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Selkirk, Alexander
1676 births
1700s missing person cases
1721 deaths
18th century in Chile
18th-century Scottish people
Scottish privateers
Burials at sea
Castaways
Circumnavigators of the globe
Date of birth unknown
Deaths from yellow fever
Formerly missing British people
Juan Fernández Islands
Maritime folklore
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Robinson Crusoe
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