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
