A peg leg is a

prosthesis In medicine, a prosthesis (: prostheses; from ), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through physical trauma, disease, or a condition present at birth (Congenital, congenital disord ...

, or artificial limb, fitted to the remaining stump of a human leg, especially a wooden one fitted at the knee. Its use dates to antiquity.

History

By the late 19th century, prosthetics vendors would offer peg legs as cheaper alternatives to more intricate, lifelike artificial legs. Even as vendors touted advantages of more complicated prostheses over simple peg legs, according to a contemporary surgeon, many patients found a peg leg more comfortable for walking. According to medical reports, some amputees were able to adjust to the use of a peg leg so well that they could walk 10, or even 30, miles in one day. Nowadays, wooden peg legs have been replaced by more modern materials, though some sports prostheses do have the same form.

Notable peg leg wearers

François Le Clerc François or Francis Le Clerc (died 1563), also known as "Jambe de Bois" ("Peg Leg"), was a 16th-century French privateer, originally from Normandy. He is credited as the first pirate in the modern era to have a "peg leg". He was often the first ...

(died 1563),

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 ...

Cornelis Jol Cornelis Corneliszoon Jol (baptised 9 January 1597 – 31 October 1641), nicknamed ''Houtebeen'' ("pegleg"), was a 17th-century Dutch corsair and admiral in the Dutch West India Company during the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Re ...

, (1597–1641), privateer and

Dutch West India Company The Dutch West India Company () was a Dutch chartered company that was founded in 1621 and went defunct in 1792. Among its founders were Reynier Pauw, Willem Usselincx (1567–1647), and Jessé de Forest (1576–1624). On 3 June 1621, it was gra ...

admiral *

Peter Stuyvesant Peter Stuyvesant ( – August 1672)Mooney, James E. "Stuyvesant, Peter" in p.1256 was a Dutch colonial administrator who served as the Directors of New Netherland, director-general of New Netherland from 1647 to 1664, when the colony was pro ...

(1612–1672), Dutch

Director-General A director general, general director or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''general directors'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'') is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer ...

New Amsterdam New Amsterdam (, ) was a 17th-century Dutch Empire, Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''Factory (trading post), fac ...

Blas de Lezo Admiral Blas de Lezo y Olavarrieta (3 February 1689 – 7 September 1741) was a Spanish Navy officer best known for his victory at the 1741 Battle of Cartagena de Indias, where forces under his command defeated a large British invasion force u ...

(1687–1741), Spanish admiral *

Gouverneur Morris Gouverneur Morris ( ; January 31, 1752 – November 6, 1816) was an American statesman, a Founding Father of the United States, and a signatory to the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution. He wrote the Preamble to the ...

(1752–1816), American politician *

Brook Watson Sir Brook Watson, 1st Baronet (7 February 1735 – 2 October 1807) was a British merchant and politician who served as the Lord Mayor of London from 1796 to 1797. He is perhaps best known as the subject of John Singleton Copley's painting '' Wa ...

(1735–1807), Lord Mayor of London * Pierre Daumesnil (1776–1832), French general *

Józef Sowiński Józef Sowiński (1777–1831) was a Polish artillery general and a hero of Poland's November 1830 Uprising. Life Józef Longin Sowiński was born on 15 March 1777 in Warsaw. After graduating from the famous Corps of Cadets in Warsaw, he jo ...

(1777–1831), Polish General * Billy Waters (1778–1823), aka Black Billy, former African American slave, then sailor in the British Navy until he became an amputee. Also a busker of prolific merit. *

Vuk Karadžić Vuk Stefanović Karadžić ( sr-Cyrl, Вук Стефановић Караџић, ; 6 November 1787 (26 October OS)7 February 1864) was a Serbian philologist, anthropologist and linguist. He was one of the most important reformers of the moder ...

(1787–1864), Serbian linguist *

Thomas L. Smith Thomas Long "Pegleg" Smith (October 10, 1801 – October 1866) was a mountain man who, serving as a guide for many early expeditions into the American Southwest, helped explore parts of present-day New Mexico. He is also known as a fur trapper, p ...

(1801–1866), American mountain man *

Albert Chmielowski Albert Chmielowski (20 August 1845 – 25 December 1916) - born ''Adam Hilary Bernard Chmielowski'' - was a Polish people, Polish Third Order of Saint Francis, Franciscan tertiary, painter, and disabled veteran of the Uprising of 1863. He was fou ...

(1845–1916), Polish artist, founder of the Albertine Brothers and Sisters, saint of the Catholic Church *

Robert McAlpin Williamson Robert McAlpin Williamson (1804? – December 22, 1859) was a Republic of Texas Supreme Court Justice, state lawmaker and Texas Ranger. Williamson County, Texas is named for him. He was the first white person documented to have played the banjo ...

(1804?–1859), nicknamed "Three-legged Willie",

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...

Supreme Court Justice, state lawmaker, and Texas Ranger *

Kushibiki Yumindo , also given as Yumeto, Yumito, and Yumeno, was a Japanese impresario responsible for organizing many international exhibitions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Japanese Exhibition King Kushibiki Yumindo was born in the town of Go ...

(1859?–1924), Japanese impresario *

Peg Leg Bates Clayton "Peg Leg" Bates (October 11, 1907 – December 6, 1998) was an African-American entertainer from Fountain Inn, South Carolina, United States. Life and career Early life Peg Leg Bates was born Clayton Bates on October 10, 1907, in ...

(1907–1998), dancer *

Peg Leg Sam Arthur Jackson, known as Peg Leg Sam (December 28, 1911 – October 27, 1977) was an American country blues harmonicist, singer and comedian. He recorded "Fox Chase" and "John Henry" and worked in medicine shows. He gained his nickname followin ...

(Arthur Jackson) (1911–1977), American blues musician *

Bill Veeck William Louis Veeck Jr. ( ; February 9, 1914 – January 2, 1986), also known as "Sport Shirt Bill" and "Wild Bill" was an American Major League Baseball franchise owner and promoter. Veeck was at various times the owner of the Cleveland Indian ...

(1914–1986), American baseball executive *

Joe "Pegleg" Morgan Joseph Morgan (born Joseph Međugorac; April 10, 1929 – November 8, 1993) was an American gangster who became the first non-Mexican American member of the Mexican Mafia. He received the nickname "Pegleg" by authorities because of his prosthet ...

(1929–1993), first non-Hispanic member of the Mexican Mafia, an American criminal organization

History

Notable peg leg wearers

References

Further reading

Books

Articles