Alexander Selkirk

Lore & Background

Alexander Selkirk was born in 1676 in Lower Largo, Fife, Scotland, the son of a shoemaker and tanner. In his youth, he displayed a quarrelsome and unruly disposition, being summoned before the Kirk Session in August 1693 for indecent conduct in church, though he did not appear, having gone to sea. He was back at Largo in 1701 when he again came to the attention of church authorities for assaulting his brothers. Early on, he engaged in buccaneering, and in 1703 joined an expedition of English privateer and explorer William Dampier to the South Pacific Ocean, serving as sailing master on the ship Cinque Ports under Captain Thomas Stradling.

In September 1704, after parting ways with Dampier, Stradling took Cinque Ports to the uninhabited Juan Fernández Islands for restocking. Selkirk had grave concerns about the seaworthiness of the vessel and declared he would rather stay on the island than continue in a dangerously leaky ship. Stradling took him up on the offer and landed Selkirk on the island with a musket, a hatchet, a knife, a cooking pot, a Bible, bedding and some clothes. Selkirk immediately regretted his rashness, but Stradling refused to let him back on board. Cinque Ports later foundered near Malpelo Island, and Stradling and some of his men survived but were forced to surrender to the Spanish.

On the island, Selkirk initially remained along the shoreline, eating spiny lobsters and scanning the ocean daily for rescue, suffering from loneliness, misery, and remorse. Hordes of sea lions eventually drove him inland, where he found feral goats, wild turnips, cabbage tree leaves, and dried Schinus fruits. He tamed feral cats to protect himself from rats at night. He forged a new knife from barrel hoops, built two huts, and used his musket to hunt goats. When his gunpowder dwindled, he chased prey on foot, once being badly injured in a fall from a cliff. He made clothes from goatskins using a nail for sewing. Two Spanish vessels anchored at the island, but he hid from them, once being chased by Spanish sailors who urinated beneath the tree in which he was hiding but failed to notice him.

Reader's Guide

Alexander Selkirk's significance lies in his remarkable survival story, which became widely publicized after his return and is reputed to have inspired Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. His experience as a castaway for four years and four months on an uninhabited island demonstrated human resourcefulness and resilience. Selkirk's tale was chronicled by his fellow crewman Edward Cooke in A Voyage to the South Sea and Round the World (1712) and by expedition leader Woodes Rogers within months of his rescue. Prominent essayist Richard Steele also wrote an article about him for The Englishman newspaper. Selkirk's legacy endures as a real-life example of survival against the odds, and his story helped shape one of the most famous fictional castaways in literature. His life after rescue included returning to privateering and completing an around-the-world voyage, but legal disputes over his share of plundered wealth made the amount of any payment uncertain. He died on 13 December 1721.

Did You Know?

• Selkirk was marooned at his own request after judging his ship unseaworthy; the ship later foundered near Malpelo Island.
• He tamed feral cats on the island to protect himself from rats that attacked him at night.
• During his castaway years, two Spanish vessels anchored at the island, but he hid from them, once being chased by sailors who urinated beneath the tree in which he was hiding.
• He made new clothes from goatskins using a nail for sewing, and his feet became so calloused that he no longer needed shoes.