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Alexander Selkirk

Sailor / Castaway

A true-life castaway, Alexander Selkirk was the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe. While sailing with English privateers in 1704, Selkirk quarrelled with his captain and asked to be put ashore on an uninhabited island off of South America. He took with him a musket, a hatchet, and a few utensils. There he survived alone for over four years before being rescued by another English ship, with whom he sailed for two years before returning home.

Four Good Links

The Real Robinson Crusoe

Brief history of Selkirk and his island

Two Extraordinary Travellers

The BBC tells his curious story

Robinson Crusoe Island

A brief history of the island Selkirk probably lived on

Rampant Scotland Directory!

Huge online index of famous Scots, Selkirk included

Vital Stats

Birth

c. 1676

Birthplace

Lower Largo, Fife, Scotland

Death

12 December 1721
(yellow fever (?), age 45)

Best Known As

The model for Robinson Crusoe