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SELKIRK, or SEALCHRAIG, Alexander, Scottish mariner,
born in Largo, Fifeshire, Scotland, in 1676; died at sea in 1723. When a young
lad he ran off to sea and engaged in several buccaneering expeditions, half
exploring and half piratical. In 1703 he was sailing-master of a privateer
called "Cinque Ports Galley," but, having had a quarrel with his captain, whose
name was Stradling, he was, in September of the following year, at his own
request, put on shore at Juan Fernandez, an uninhabited island 400 miles off the
coast of Chile (seen in the accompanying illustration), with some necessaries,
such as a knife, kettle, axe, gun, ammunition, and a few books.
The island is twelve miles long, four miles broad, and
mostly covered with mountains, the highest peak being 3,000 feet above the
sea-level. There are also numerous fertile valleys, and many wild goats frequent
the cliffs. In this lonely island Selkirk remained for four years and four
months, till the arrival of two English vessels, under the command of Captain
Woodes Rogers (q. v.), by whom he was taken off in February, 1709. Rogers made
Selkirk his mate, and sailed with him round the world, reaching England on 1
October, 1711.
In his account of his voyage (1712) he tells of
Selkirk's experiences in the island. Selkirk had built two huts, the roofing
being long grass, and the wainscoting the skins of goats. Pimento wood supplied
him with fire and light, burning very clearly and yielding a fragrant smell. He
made goat-skins into clothes, and petted cats and kids.
Rogers also tells of Selkirk's difficulty in returning
to the use of speech and to the ordinary provisions used on shipboard. Selkirk
returned to Largo, eloped with a girl, married her, and brought her to London.
He subsequently joined the navy, and rose to the rank of lieutenant. It is said
that Daniel Defoe met Selkirk at Wapping, and that his adventures suggested
"Robinson Crusoe": but there is a German book of an earlier date narrating
similar experiences.
Cowper's "Lines on Solitude, supposed to be written by
Alexander Selkirk," beginning "I am monarch of all I survey," are well known.
See "The Life and Adventures of Alexander Selkirk," by John Howell (Edinburgh,
1829). A bronze statue of Selkirk was recently unveiled at Largo on the site of
the cottage in which the mariner was born.
In 1966 the Chilean government re-named the island Juan
Fernandez as Robinson Crusoe Island. In July, 2005, John Selcraig, a descendant
of Alexander Selkirk’s brother John, authored an article in Smithsonian
magazine, Volume 36, No 4 entitled “The Real Robinson Crusoe.”
Edited Appletons Encyclopedia, by John Looby Copyright © 2001
StanKlos.comTM
SELKIRK, or SEALCHRAIG, Alexander, Scottish mariner, born in Largo, Fifeshire, Scotland, in 1676; died at sea in 1723. When a young lad he ran off to sea and engaged in several buccaneering expeditions, half exploring and half piratical. In 1703 he was sailing-master of a privateer called "Cinque Ports Galley," but, having had a quarrel with his captain, whose name was Stradling, he was, in September of the following year, at his own request, put on shore at Juan Fernandez, an uninhabited island 400 miles off the coast of Chili (seen in the accompanying illustration), with some necessaries, such as a knife, kettle, axe, gun, ammunition, and a few books. The island is twelve miles long, four miles broad, and mostly covered with mountains, the highest peak being 3,000 feet above the sea-level. There are also numerous fertile valleys, and many wild goats frequent the cliffs. In this lonely island Selkirk remained for four years and four months, till the arrival of two English vessels, under the command of Captain Woodes Rogers (q. v.), by whom he was taken off in February, 1709. Rogers made Selkirk his mate, and sailed with him round the world, reaching England on 1 October, 1711. In his account of his voyage (1712) he tells of Selkirk's experiences in the island. Selkirk had built two huts, the roofing being long grass, and the wainscoting the skins of goats. Pimento wood supplied him with fire and light, burning very clearly and yielding a fragrant smell. He made goat-skins into clothes, and petted cats and kids. Rogers also tells of Selkirk's difficulty in returning to the use of speech and to the ordinary provisions used on shipboard. Sel-kirk returned to Largo, eloped with a girl, married her, and brought her to London. He subsequently joined the navy, and rose to the rank of lieutenant. It is said that Daniel Defoe met Selkirk at Wapping, and that his adventures suggested "Robinson Crusoe": but there is a German book of an earlier date narrating similar experiences. Cowper's " Lines on Solitude, supposed to be written by Alexander Selkirk," beginning "I am monarch of all I survey," are well known. See "The Life and Adventures of Alexander Selkirk," by John Howell (Edinburgh, 1829). A bronze statue of Selkirk was recently unveiled at Largo on the site of the cottage in which the mariner was born.
