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Nowadays, wooden peg legs have been replaced by more modern materials, though some sports prostheses do have the same form.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 (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, (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 ...
of 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 (1735–1807), Lord Mayor of London
* Pierre Daumesnil (1776–1832), French general
* Józef Sowiński (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 (1845–1916), Polish artist, founder of the Albertine Brothers and Sisters, saint of the Catholic Church
* Robert McAlpin Williamson (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 (1859?–1924), Japanese impresario
* Peg Leg Bates (1907–1998), dancer
* Peg Leg Sam (Arthur Jackson) (1911–1977), American blues musician
* Bill Veeck (1914–1986), American baseball executive
* Joe "Pegleg" Morgan (1929–1993), first non-Hispanic member of the Mexican Mafia, an American criminal organization
References
Further reading
Books
* Murdoch, George and Wilson, A. Bennett (1998) ''A primer on amputations and artificial limbs'' C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois,
* Pitkin, Mark R. (2009) ''Biomechanics of Lower Limb Prosthetics'' Springer verlag, New York,
* Seymour, Ron (2002) ''Prosthetics and orthotics: lower limb and spinal'' Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
* Warren, D. W. (2001) ''James Gillingham: surgical mechanist & manufacturer of artificial limbs'' Somerset Industrial Archaeology Society, Taunton, England,
Articles
*
* Cantos, Mae (2005
"Pirates & Peg Legs: a Historical Look at Amputation and Prosthetics"
''In:'' Whitelaw, William A. (2005) (editor) ''Proceedings of the 14h Annual History of Medicine Days'' Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, pp. 16–20,
*
*
* Reeves, Nicholas (1999) "New lights on ancient Egyptian prosthetic medicine" In: Davies, W. V. (editor) (1999) Studies in Egyptian Antiquities. A Tribute to T.G.H. James British Museum Press, London, pp. 73–77,
*
* Wilson, Philip D. (1922
"Early weight-bearing in the treatment of amputations of the lower limbs"
{Dead link, date=August 2023 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes ''The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery'' 4: pp. 224–247
Prosthetics
Foot
History of medicine
Maritime culture