alexander selkirk : definition of alexander selkirk and synonyms of alexander selkirk (English) Inspiring Robinson Crusoe and Gulliver's Travels An 1835 book inspired by Selkirk's life Alexander Selkirk (1676 – 13 December 1721) was a Scottish sailor who spent four years as a castaway after being marooned on an uninhabited island. An unruly youth, Selkirk joined several buccaneering expeditions to the South Seas, including one commanded by William Dampier , which called in for provisions at the Juan Fernández Islands off Chile . Selkirk judged correctly that his craft, the Cinque Ports, was unseaworthy, and was given the choice of being left ashore on his own. He was eventually rescued by Dampier after four years, in which he had developed hunting and woodcraft skills to a high degree. Selkirk's story aroused great interest at home, and Daniel Defoe 's fictional character Robinson Crusoe was almost certainly based in part on him.

Contents 13 External links Early life The son of a shoemaker and tanner in Lower Largo , Fife , Scotland, Selkirk was born in 1676. In his youth he displayed a quarrelsome and unruly disposition. Summoned on 27 August 1695 before the Kirk Session for his "undecent carriage" (indecent behaviour) in church, he "did not comper [appear], having gone away to be [the] seas: this business is continued till his return" [ sic ]. At an early period he was engaged in buccaneer expeditions to the South Seas and in 1703 joined the expedition of famed privateer and explorer William Dampier. While Dampier was captain of the St. George, Selkirk served on the galley Cinque Ports, the St. George's companion, as a sailing master serving under Thomas Stradling. Castaway This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability .

In October 1704, after the ships had parted ways because of a dispute between Stradling and Dampier, the Cinque Ports was brought by Stradling to an island that is today known as Robinson Crusoe Island in the uninhabited archipelago of Juan Fernández off the coast of Chile for a mid-expedition restocking of supplies and fresh water. By this time, Selkirk had grave concerns about the seaworthiness of this vessel. He tried to persuade some of his crewmates to desert with him, remaining on the island; he was counting on an impending visit by another ship. No one else agreed to come along with him. Stradling declared that he would grant him his wish and leave him alone on Juan Fernández. Selkirk promptly regretted his decision. He chased and called after the boat, to no avail. Selkirk lived the next four years and four months without any human company. The Cinque Ports did indeed later founder off the coast of what is present-day Colombia .

Stradling and half a dozen of the crew survived the loss of their ship, but were made prisoners by the Spanish, as the War of the Spanish Succession was going on (England and the Netherlands were in conflict with France and Spain over who was to be King of Spain). They were sent to Lima in Peru where they endured a harsh imprisonment. Life on the island The Juan Fernández Islands archipelago Hearing strange sounds from inland, which he feared were dangerous beasts, Selkirk remained at first along the shoreline. During this time he ate shellfish , and scanned the ocean daily for rescue, suffering all the while from loneliness, misery and remorse. Hordes of raucous sea lions , gathering on the beach for the mating season, eventually drove him to the island's interior. Once there, his way of life took a turn for the better. More foods were now available: feral goats – introduced by earlier sailors – provided him with meat and milk and wild turnips , cabbage , and black pepper berries offered him variety and spice. Although rats would attack him at night, he was able, by domesticating and living near feral cats , to sleep soundly and in safety.

Selkirk proved resourceful in using equipment from the ship as well as materials that were native to the island. He built two huts [1] out of pimento trees . He used his musket to hunt goats and his knife to clean their carcasses. As his gunpowder dwindled, he had to chase prey on foot. During one such chase he was badly injured when he tumbled from a cliff, lying unconscious for about a day. (His prey had cushioned his fall, sparing him a broken back.) [2] He read from the Bible frequently, finding it a comfort to him in his condition and a mainstay for his English. When Selkirk's clothes wore out, he made new garments from goatskin using a nail for sewing. The lessons he had learned as a child from his father, a tanner, helped him greatly during his stay on the island. As his shoes became unusable, he had no need to make new ones, since his toughened, callused feet made protection unnecessary. He forged a new knife out of barrel rings left on the beach. Two vessels had arrived and departed before his escape, but both were Spanish.

As a Scotsman and privateer , he risked a terrible fate if captured and therefore he hid himself. At one point, his Spanish pursuers urinated at the bottom of a tree he was hiding in, but did not discover him. [3] Rescue His long-anticipated rescue occurred on 1 February 1709 by way of the Duke, a privateering ship piloted by William Dampier. Selkirk was discovered by the Duke's captain , Woodes Rogers , who referred to him as Governor of the island. Now rescued, he was almost incoherent in his joy. The agile Selkirk, catching two or three goats a day, helped restore the health of Rogers' men, who were suffering from scurvy . Rogers eventually made Selkirk his mate, giving him independent command of one of his ships. Rogers' A cruising voyage round the world: first to the South-Sea, thence to the East-Indies, and homewards by the Cape of Good Hope was published in 1712 and included an account of Selkirk's ordeal.

Later life Journalist Richard Steele interviewed Selkirk about his adventures and wrote a much-read article about him in The Englishman. [4] Early in 1717 Selkirk returned to Lower Largo but stayed only a few months. There he met Sophia Bruce, a sixteen-year-old dairymaid. They eloped to London but apparently did not marry. In March 1717 he again went off to sea. While on a visit to Plymouth , he married a widowed innkeeper. According to the ship's log , Selkirk died at 8 p.m. on 13 December 1721 while serving as a lieutenant on board the Royal ship Weymouth. He probably succumbed to the yellow fever that had devastated the voyage. He was buried at sea off the west coast of Africa. Several people who spoke to Selkirk after his rescue (such as Captain Rogers and the journalist Steele) were impressed by the tranquillity of mind and vigour of the body that Selkirk had attained while on the island.

Rogers stated that "one may see that Solitude and Retirement from the World is not such an unsufferable State of Life as most Men imagine, especially when People are fairly call'd or thrown into it unavoidably, as this Man was". [3] Steele noted that "This plain Man's Story is a memorable Example, that he is happiest who confines his Wants to natural Necessities; and he that goes further in his Desires, increases his Wants in Proportion to his Acquisitions". [4] Commemoration In 1863, the crew of HMS Topaze placed a bronze tablet on a spot called Selkirk's Lookout on a hill of the island in memory of his stay. [5] On 1 January 1966 Selkirk's island was officially renamed Robinson Crusoe Island . At the same time, the most western island of the Juan Fernández Islands was renamed Alejandro Selkirk Island although Selkirk probably never saw that island (97 miles west).

On 11 December 1885, after a speech by Lord Aberdeen , Lady Aberdeen unveiled a bronze statue and plaque of Alexander Selkirk outside a house on the site of Selkirk's original home on the Main Street of Lower Largo, Fife, Scotland. David Gillies of Cardy House, Lower Largo, a descendant of the Selkirks, donated the statue and T. Stuart Burnett ARAS designed it. [6] Plaque for Alexander Selkirk in Lower Largo , Scotland. Archaeological findings Around 2000, an expedition led by the Japanese Daisuke Takahashi, searching for Selkirk's camp on the island ( juan fernandez ), found part of an early eighteenth (or late seventeenth) century nautical instrument that almost certainly belonged to Selkirk. [7] Research by Dr. David Caldwell purports to have found his camp on the island. In other literary works William Cowper 's The Solitude Of Alexander Selkirk is about the feelings of Alexander Selkirk as he lived all alone on the island.

This poem gave rise to the common phrase monarch of all I survey via the verse: I am monarch of all I survey, My right there is none to dispute; From the centre all round to the sea, I am lord of the fowl and the brute. Charles Dickens used Selkirk as a simile in Chapter Two of The Pickwick Papers : "Colonel Builder and Sir Thomas Clubber exchanged snuff–boxes, and looked very much like a pair of Alexander Selkirks — 'Monarchs of all they surveyed.'" This probably refers to William Cowper 's poem. In his poem "Inniskeen Road: July Evening", the poet Patrick Kavanagh likens his loneliness on the road to that of Selkirk: Oh, Alexander Selkirk knew the plight Of being king and government and nation. A road, a mile of kingdom, I am king Of banks and stones and every blooming thing. In Etiquette, one of W.S. Gilbert 's Bab Ballads , Selkirk is used as a model for the English castaways: These passengers, by reason of their clinging to a mast, Upon a desert island were eventually cast.

They hunted for their meals, as Alexander Selkirk used, But they couldn’t chat together – they had not been introduced. Selkirk is mentioned in Sailing Alone Around The World by Joshua Slocum . During his stay on the Juan Fernández Islands, Slocum runs across a marker commemorating Selkirk's stay. In Allan Cole and Chris Bunch 's Sten science fiction series, Book Two, The Wolf Worlds , the Scottish character Alex bemoans their predicament after crash landing; 'A slackit way f'r a mon,' Alex mourned to himself. 'Ah dinnae ken Ah'd ever be Alex Selkirk.' Film Selkirk, el verdadero Robinson Crusoe, a stop motion film by Tournier Animation based on Alexander Selkirk's life was premiered simultaneously in Argentina , Chile and Uruguay on February 2, 2012.

[8] Notes The Diary Review: We saw a light ashore A vast, international and unrivalled collection of diary extracts - from around 800 diarists Monday, February 2, 2009 We saw a light ashore Three hundred years ago today a Scottish sailor called Alexander Selkirk was rescued from a South Pacific Island, having been marooned there for four years, by an English sailor called Woodes Rogers. Selkirk’s ordeal is said to have inspired Daniel Defoe’s now famous character and book, Robinson Crusoe. Indeed, extracts from Rogers’ journal at the time he found Selkirk are included at the back of an 1801 edition of Robinson Crusoe (and this is freely available online). Selkirk was born in 1676, the son of a shoemaker in Fife, Scotland, but soon went to sea. In 1703, he was appointed sailing master under captain Thomas Stradling on the galleon Cinque Ports, which was sailing with St. George as part of an expedition led by the explorer William Dampier.

In October the following year, after an argument with Dampier, Stradling went his own way, subsequently mooring the Cinque Ports near the uninhabited archipelago of Juan Fernández (not far off the coast of Chile) for supplies and fresh water. A somewhat hotheaded Selkirk then argued with Stradling over the seaworthiness of the Cinque Ports, a dispute which ended with Selkirk being left on the island. It would be four years and four months before he was rescued, on 2 February 1709 - exactly three centuries ago - by an expedition captained by Woodes Rogers with William Dampier among the crew. Rogers, born just a few years after Selkirk, grew up in the south of England and while still in his mid-twenties inherited a family shipping business. In 1707, Rogers was approached by Dampier to support a privateering voyage against the Spanish. Rogers led the expedition with two frigates, the Duke and Duchess, returning after three years not only with much captured treasure but with the rescued Selkirk.

Later, Selkirk joined the Royal Navy but he succombed to yellow fever in 1721. Rogers, though, was appointed Governor of the Bahamas, an area much plagued with pirates, and lived until 1732. Wikipedia has biographies for both Rogers and Selkirk . The Scotsman has more on Selkirk. Indeed, in a review of The Man Who Was Robinson Crusoe, by Rick Wilson, The Scotsman says there may have been a journal kept by Selkirk, since this is much referred to in 19th-century accounts. However, it has never been traced. One theory is that it passed into the hands of the then Duke of Hamilton – whom Defoe would almost certainly have known. Apparently, the article adds, Selkirk’s widow, Frances, unsuccessfully petitioned the duke to return the journal. And there is more on Rogers at the Pirate King website, which explains that Rogers account of the voyage and his rescue of Selkirk were published in 1712 as: A Cruising Voyage Round the World: First to the South-Sea, thence to the East-Indies, and Homewards by the Cape of Good Hope.

Begun in 1708, and finish’d in 1711. Containing a Journal of all the Remarkable Transactions. An Account of Alexander Selkirk’s living alone Four Years and Four Months in an Island. It also explains how this account later inspired Daniel Defoe to write Robinson Crusoe, a book which went on to become a classic of English literature. The text of A Cruising Voyage Round the World does not seem to be available online, but relatively recent reprints are available from about £30. A 1726 edition is also currently available on Abebooks for £2,000. However, an 1801 edition of Defoe’s fiction, The Life and Most Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner, is freely available online - at Internet Archive - and this contains an annex with the relevant text from Rogers’ journal for 1-2 February 1709, the very days that Selkirk was spotted and rescued three hundred years ago. It’s a good read, and I make no apologies for including such a long verbatim text.

‘On February 1st, 1709, we came before that island, having had a good observation the day before, and found our latitude to be 34 degrees 10 minutes south. In the afternoon, we hoisted out our pinnace; and Captain Dover, with the boat’s crew, went in her to go ashore, though we could not be less that four leagues off. As soon as the pinnace was gone, I went on board the Duchess, who admired our boat attempting going ashore at that distance from land. It was against my inclination: but, to oblige Captain Dover, I let her go: As soon as it was dark, we saw a light ashore.

Our boat was then about a league off the island, and bore away for the ship as soon as she saw the lights: We put our lights aboard for the boat, though some were of opinion, the lights we saw were our boat’s lights: But, as night came on, it appeared too large for that: We fired our quarter-deck gun, and several muskets, showing lights in our mizen and fore-shrouds, that our boat might find us whilst we were in the lee of the island: About two in the morning our boat came on board, having been two hours on board the Duchess, that took them up astern of us; we were glad they got well off, because it began to blow. We were all convinces the light was on the shore, and designed to make our ships ready to engage, believing them to be French ships at anchor, and we must either fight them, or want water. All this stir and apprehension arose, as we afterwards found, from one poor naked man, who passed in our imagination, at present, for a Spanish garrison, a body of Frenchmen, or a crew of pirates.

While we were under these apprehensions, we stood on the backside of the island, in order to fall in with the southerly wind, till we were past the island; and then we came back to it again, and ran close aboard the land that begins to make the north-east side. We still continued to reason upon this matter; and it is in a manner incredible, what strange notions many of our people entertained from the sight of the fire upon the island. It served, however, to show people’s tempers and spirits; and we were able to give a tolerable guess how our men would behave, in case there really were any enemies upon the island. The flaws came heavy off the shore, and we were forced to reef our topsails when we opened the middle bay, where we expected to have found our enemy; but saw all clear, & no ships, nor in the other bay next the north-east end. These two bays are all that ships ride in, which recruit on this island; but the middle bay is by much the best. We guessed there had been ships there, but that they were gone on sight of us. We sent our yawl ashore about noon, with Captain Dover, Mr.

Fry, and six men, all armed: Mean while we and the Duchess kept turning to get in, and such heavy flaws came off the land, that we were forced to let go our top sail sheet, keeping all hands to stand by our sails, for fear of the winds carrying them away: But when the flaws were gone, we had little or no wind. These flaws proceeded from the land; which is very high in the middle of the island. Our boat did not return; we sent our pinnace with the men armed, to see what was the occasion of the yawl’s stay; for we were afraid, that the Spaniards had a garrison there, and might have seized them. We put out a signal for our boat, and the Duchess showed a French ensign. Immediately our pinnace returned from the shore, and brought abundance of cry-fish, with a man clothed in goats skins, who looked wilder than the first owners of them.

He had been on the island four years and four months, being left there by Captain Stradling in the Cinque-ports, his name was Alexander Selkirk, a Scotchman, who had been master of the Cinque-ports, a ship that came here last with Captain Dampier, who told me, that this was the best man in her. I immediately agreed with him to be a mate on board our ship: It was he that made the fire last night when he saw our ships, which he judged to be English. During his stay here he saw several ships pass by, but only two came in to anchors: As he went to view them; he found them to be Spaniards, and retired from them, upon which they shot at him: Had they been French, he would have submitted; but choose to risque his dying alone on the island, rather than fall into the hands of Spaniards in these parts; because he apprehended they would murder him, or make a slave of him in the mines; for he feared they would spare no stranger that might be capable of discovering the South Seas.

The Spaniards had landed, before he knew what they were; and they came so near him, that he had much ado to escape; for they not only shot at him, but pursued him to the woods, where he climbed to the top of a tree, at the foot of which they made water, and killed several goats just by, but went off again without discovering him. He told us that he was born at Largo, in the county of Fife, in Scotland, and was bred a sailor from his youth. The reason of his being left here was difference between him and his captain; which together with the ship’s being leaky, made him willing rather to stay here, than go along with him at first; but when he was at last willing to go, the captain would not receive him. He had been at the island before, to wood and water, when two of the ship’s company were left upon it for six mouths, till the Ship returned, being chased thence by two French South-sea ships. He had with him his cloaths and bedding, with a firelock, some powder, bullets and tobacco, a hatchet, a knife, a kettle, a bible, some practical pieces, and his mathematical instruments and books.

He diverted and provided for himself as well as he could; but for the first eight months, had much ado to bear up against melancholy, and the terror of being left alone in such a desolate place. He built two huts with pimento trees, covered them with long grass, & lined them with the skins of goats, which be killed with his gun as he wanted, so long as his powder lasted, which was but a pound; and that being almost spent, he got fire by rubbing two sticks of pimento-wood together upon his knee. In the lesser hut, at some distance from the other, he dressed his victuals; and in the larger he slept; and employed himself in reading, singing psalms, and praying; so that he said. He was a better Christian, while in this solitude, than ever he was before, or than, he was afraid, he would ever be again. At first he never ate anything till hunger constrained him, partly for grief, and partly for want of bread and salt: Nor did he go to bed, till he could watch no longer; the pimento-wood, which burnt very clear, served him both for fire and candle, and refreshed him with its fragrant smell.

He might have had fish enough, but would not eat them for want of salt, because they occasioned a looseness, except crayfish which are as large as our lobsters, and very good: These he sometimes boiled, and at other times broiled, as he did his goat’s flesh, of, which he made very good broth, for they are not so rank as ours: he kept an account of 500 that he killed while there, and caught as many more, which he marked on the ear, and let go. When, his powder failed, he took them by speed of feet; for his way of living, continual exercise of walking and running cleared him of all gross humours; so that he ran with wonderful swiftness through the woods, and up the rocks and hills, as we perceived when we employed him to catch goats for us; We had a bull dog, which we lent with several of our nimblest runners, to help him in catching goats; but he distanced and tired both the dog and the men, caught the goats, and brought them to us on his back.

He told us, that his agility in pursuing a goat had once like to have cost him his life; he pursued it with so much eagerness, that he catched hold of it on the brink of a precipiece, of which he was not aware, the bushes hiding it from him; so, that he fell with the goat down the precipiece; a great height, and was to stunned and bruised with the fall, that he narrowly escaped with his life; and, when he came to his senses, found the goat dead under him: He lay there about twenty-four hours, and was scarce able to crawl to his hut, which was about a mile distant, or to stir abroad again in ten days. He came at last to relish his meat well enough without salt or bread; and, in the season had plenty of good turreps, which had been sewed there by Captain Dampier’s men, and have now overspread some acres of ground.

He had enough of good cabbage from the cabbage-trees, and seasoned his meat with the fruit of the pimento trees, which is the same as Jamaica pepper, and smells deliciously: He found also a black pepper, called Ma’azeta, which was very good to expel wind, and against gripping in the guts. He soon wore out all his shoes and clothes by running in the woods; and at last, being forced to shift without them, his feet became so hard, that he ran everywhere without difficulty; and it was some time before he could wear shoes after we found him; for not being used to any so long, his feet swelled when he came first to wear them again. After he had conquered his melancholy, he diverted himself sometimes with cutting his name in the trees, and the time of his being left, and continuance there.

He was at first much pestered with cats and rats, that bred in great numbers, from some of each species which had got ashore from ships that put in there to wood and water: The rats gnawed his feet and cloathes whilst asleep, which obliged him to cherish the cats with his goats flesh, by which many of them became so tame, that they would lie about him in hundreds, and soon delivered him from the rats: He likewise tamed some kids; and, to divert himself would, now and then, sing and dance with them, and his cats: So that by the favour of Providence, and vigour of his youth, being now but thirty years old, he came, at last, to conquer all the inconveniencies of his solitude, and to be very easy.

When his cloathes were worn out, he made himself a coat and a cap of goat-skins, which he stiched together with little thongs of the same, that he cut with his knife, He had no other needle but a nail; and, when his knife was worn to the back, he made others, as well as he could, of some iron hoops that were left ashore, which he beat thin, and ground upon stones. Having some linnen cloth by him, he sewed him some shirts with a nail, and stiched them with the worsted of his old stockings, which he pulled out on purpose. He had his last shirt on, when we found him in the island. At his first coming on board us, he had so much forgot his language, for want of use, that we could scarce understand him: for he seemed to speak his words by halve. We offered him a dram: but he would not touch it; having drank nothing but water since his being there; And it was sometime before he could relish our victuals.

He could give us an account of no other product of the island, than what we have mentioned, except some black plums, which are very good, but hard to come at, the trees, which bear them, growing on high mountains and rocks. Pimento-trees are plenty here, and we saw some of sixty feet high and about two yards thick; and cotton-trees higher, and near four fathoms round in the stock. The climate is so good that the trees and grass are verdant all the year round. The winter lasts no longer than June and July, and is not then severe, there being only a small frost, and a little hail: but sometimes great rains. The heat of the summer is equally moderate; and there is not much thunder, or tempestuous weather of any sort.

He saw no venomous or savage creature on the island, nor any sort of beasts but goats, the first of which had been put ashore here, on purpose for a breed, by Juan Fernandez, a Spaniard, who settled there with some families, till the continent of Chili began to submit to the Spaniards; which, being more profitable; tempted them to quit this island, capable however, of maintaining a good number of people, and being made so strong, that they could hot be easily dislodged from thence.’ Posted by 1000+ ideas about Alexander Selkirk on Pinterest | Chile, St Nicholas Market Bristol and Bristol England Forward Llandoger Trow pub in Bristol, England. Named after a type of Welsh sailing barge and built in 1664 is the pub where Daniel Defoe met Alexander Selkirk on whom he based Robinson Crusoe and it was thought to be the model for the Admiral Benbow in Treasure Island See more Selkirk's Island: The True and Strange Adventures of the Real Robinson Crusoe (Diana Souhami) | New and Used Books from Thrift Books Free shipping on all U.S. orders over $10!

Overview Piracy and betrayal frame the epic story of solitary endurance that inspired Daniel Defoe's classic novel.Who was the real Robinson Crusoe? And what did he really experience during his solitary stay on a remote island in the Pacific? Diana Souhami's revelatory account of Alexander Selkirk's adventures on the high seas and dry land leads us to the answers to both these questions, and explores the reality behind the romance of privateering on the high seas. Born to a poor Scottish family, Selkirk signed on with an ill-fated quest to sack the famous Manila galleon, one of the richest prizes on the southern seas. After a series of misfortunes and disagreements among the crew, Selkirk was put ashore on an island three hundred miles west of South America, where he spent four years learning to survive with little more than his bare hands.Acclaimed biographer Diana Souhami evokes all the strangeness and wonder of his story and interprets the haze created by three centuries of literature and legend. The result is a brilliantly lucid and lyrical recovery and discovery of a forgotten man and his unforgettable experience.

Related Subjects A more realistic Pirate Published by Thriftbooks.com User, 13 years ago Granted, it takes a little bit to get used to Diana Souhami's style of prose, but that aside I found this book to be a pleasure to read. This biography of a pirate is certainly far more captivating, interesting, and realistic than Defoe's romanticized version of Selkirk's ordeal.It is probably safe to say that the author may have added some speculative detail to the main characters habits. These elements, though possibly not true give the reader a greater understanding of Selkirk's personality, and are therefore at least well invented.This book is both, informative and entertaining, making it a quite enjoyable read. excellent biography Published by Thriftbooks.com User, 14 years ago In 1703 an aristocrat and a sea captain cut a deal to pillage the Manila galleon. In 1704, they set sail with one of the sailors being Alexander Selkirk, a poor Scot. Alexander and the officers especially Captain Dampier had several arguments.

So the Captain marooned Selkirk on a remote South Seas Island three hundred miles from South America and now owned by Chile and renamed Isla Robinson Crusoe. For the next four years he survived by himself before finally being rescued. Selkirk became a celebrity in England and the model for Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, written two decades later.Diana Souhami provides readers with a delightful biography of Selkirk that separate fact from fiction. Ms. Selkirk digs deep into the records of the time so that the audience obtains a complete picture of the man, which is quite different from the legend. The results are a superb biography that showcases Ms. Souhami's talent as much as her subject, the ultimate survivor. Readers will enjoy "The true and strange adventures of the real Robinson Crusoe" as much as the Defoe's fictionalized account. Just reconsider the role of those goats.Harriet Klausner ...And He Didn't Even Have A Pair of Hipwaders!! Published by Thriftbooks.com User, 14 years ago I have read all the reviews here and have read the book too, enjoying it thoroughly. I find Souhami's meandering style and graphic imagery fascinating.

There is no way she could write a book that is just about Selkirk's sojourn on the island, there just isn't enough information. So instead, she weaves a tapestry of the harshness of eighteenth century sealife and lets us imagine for ourselves what it would be like to sail the seas with men like William Dampier in search of booty.Alexander Selkirk was not a nice guy and he travelled in the company of others who were also not nice guys. But these rough men had their own code and sense of fair play, so when Selkirk argued with and refused to obey his incompetent superior, he was marooned rather than executed as he probably would have been under similar circumstances in the Royal Navy.Selkirk was of an age when people knew how to do things with their hands, they had to in order to survive. With a bare minimum of necessities, he was able to carve out a lonely yet comfortable existence on his isle of exile. Souhami paints a beautiful portrait of how the lush the island was and how bountiful it must have seemed to the marooned sailor.

Her descriptions of the flora, fauna, and topography are very evocative.Beyond the isle itself, Souhami expands on the geopolitical situation and the position of the English vis-a-vis the Spanish in the struggle for control of the seas and thus of trade. I learned quite a few interesting things about the Spanish settlements and inter-settlement communications reading this book. Souhami's prose makes the era come alive.Despite all the privations of life at sea, pirates and privateers were guys who were truly free. Selkirk's life is one of breaking the bonds of social custom and morality. His instincts were basic, he was fatalistic, and he had no real interests beyond satisfying his urges and doing what it took so that he could indulge his fancy. His sham marriages show that he saw women the way he saw the goats of his island, as objects of sexual conquest.Selkirk's Island is a book filled with fascinating facts woven together with logical conjecture. I recommend it as a spellbinding read for anyone who is comfortable thinking "outside the box". Truth is Stranger Than Crusoe Published by Thriftbooks.com User, 14 years ago Alexander Selkirk was not a nice guy.

He was the seventh child, preceded by six other sons, of a cobbler, born in 1680 in Nether Largo in Scotland. At age fifteen, he was accused of ?Undecent Beaiviar in ye Church,? the strict Scottish Presbyterian version, but he did not appear to meet the charge, for he went off to sea. And the sea was the making of him, for without his adventures, we probably would not have had Daniel Defoe?s _Robinson Crusoe_. The fictional Crusoe, it is true, is not very much like Selkirk, as Crusoe was pious, kind, contemplative, and law-abiding, and perhaps Selkirk?s life and marooning on a strange island lack moral instruction. They are, however, still fascinating, and in _Selkirk?s Island: The True and Strange Adventures of the Real Robinson Crusoe_ (Harcourt) Diana Souhami has told them as fully as is possible, drawing upon journals, ships? records, fictionalizations, and her own visit to Selkirk?s abode.

She has also given an account of his island which has loomed large in Selkirk?s life, in literature, and lessons of ecology and human encroachment.Selkirk signed on with a privateering expedition. England was at war with Spain, whose galleons were bringing gold and other goods from the New World to finance the war. The English government sanctioned the patriotic theft of such targets in a system of something like legal piracy. Men sailed in such ventures to get a share of whatever booty their ships could take, risking death by violence or disease. When his ship went into the tiny island of Juan Fernandez, 300 miles west of Chile in 1704 for refitting the vessel and gathering of stores, Selkirk refused to board again, because he felt it was so eaten-through that it would sink (he was right). He was left there, and was in isolation for over four years. He made a sandalwood hut, a wooden bed, hooks to snare fishes, and cutlery out of goat horns. His realm was invaded by Spaniards one time, but although they destroyed his goods, he evaded capture.

When English privateers came in 1709, they were astonished to find the castaway. ?He had so much forgot his Language for want of Use,? wrote one, ?that we could scarce understand him, for he seem?d to speak his words by halves.?Souhami argues that the time on his island was the best time of Selkirk?s life. He might not have seen it that way (he himself left no first person accounts), but before he left home for the sea he behaved badly, and he did so on his return as well, addicted to drink, lying, and violence. Different authors picked up his story, and Defoe was not the only one to make this misfit into a Christian paragon. He did so, however, not so much with the aim of uplifting his readers, but to get some money to pay for his daughter?s wedding. Human folly continues to play a role in the island?s fortunes. It now belongs to Chile. Enterprising islanders are campaigning to change its name to Isla Robinson Crusoe.

You can buy Robinson Crusoe tee shirts Edition Details Famous people from Fife, Scotland Famous Folks Of Fife Adam Smith, (1723-90), Famed Scottish philosopher and economist, whose celebrated treatise An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations was the first serious attempt to study the nature of capital and the historical development of industry and commerce among European nations. Smith was born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland, and educated at the universities of Glasgow and Oxford. From 1748 to 1751, he gave lectures on rhetoric and belles-lettres in Edinburgh. During this period, a close association developed between Smith and the Scottish philosopher David Hume that lasted until the latter's death in 1776 and contributed much to the development of Smith's ethical and economic theories. Smith was appointed professor of logic in 1751 and then professor of moral philosophy in 1752 at the University of Glasgow. He later systematized the ethical teachings he had propounded in his lectures and published them in his first major work, Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759).

In 1763 he resigned from the university to accept the position of tutor to Henry Scott, 3rd duke of Buccleuch, whom he accompanied on an 18-month tour of France and Switzerland. Smith met and associated with many of the leading Continental philosophers of the physiocratic school, which based its political and economic doctrines on the supremacy of natural law, wealth, and order. From 1766 to 1776, he lived in Kirkcaldy preparing The Wealth of Nations (1776). Smith was appointed commissioner of customs in Edinburgh in 1778, serving in this capacity until his death. In 1787 he was also named lord rector of the University of Glasgow. The Wealth of Nations has served, perhaps more than any other single work in its field, as a guide to the formulation of governmental economic policies throughout the western world. Sir John Leslie ( 1766-1832 ) Scottish natural philosopher and physicist, born in Largo, Fife. He studied at St. Andrews and Edinburgh, and traveled as a tutor in America and on the Continent, meanwhile engaging in experimental research.

He invented a differential thermometer, a hygrometer and a photometer, and wrote An Experimental Inquiry into Heat in 1804. In 1805 he obtained the chair of mathematics at Edinburgh University. In 1810 he succeeded in creating artificial ice by freezing water under the air pump. Transferred to the chair of natural philosophy ( 1819 ), he also invented the pyroscope, atmometer and aethrioscope. Sir John Goodsir ( 1814-1867 ) Scottish anatomist, born in Anstruther. He studied at St. Andrews University and Edinburgh, where he became a professor of anatomy in 1846. He is best known for his work in cellular theory. Captain Keay An Anstruther man who won fame as the captain of the tea-clipper " Ariel ", which holds the all-time record for a sailing-ship, from Gravesend to Hong Kong. Beaton, David or Bethune, David (1494-1546), Scottish Roman Catholic prelate and statesman, born in Fife, and educated at the universities of St. Andrews, Glasgow, and Paris.

After being employed by James V of Scotland on various missions to the French court, Beaton was made a cardinal in 1538. The following year he succeeded his uncle as archbishop of St. Andrews and primate of Scotland. When James died in 1542, Beaton produced a will of the late king appointing himself one of the regents of the kingdom during the minority of the infant Mary, queen of Scots, but the document was rejected by the nobility. Beaton was imprisoned in 1543 but was soon released. He then induced the regent, James Hamilton, 2nd earl of Arran, to oppose the subjugation of Scotland by Henry VIII of England and to denounce the reformed religion. After the coronation of Mary in 1543, Beaton, as chancellor, began a ruthless persecution of the Protestants. He was assassinated in his castle by the followers of the Scottish reformer George Wishart, whom Beaton had condemned to death. Thomas Chalmers ( 1780-1853 ) Scottish theologian and preacher, born in Anstruther, Fife. Educated at St.

Andrews, he was ordained minister of Kilmany in 1803. He carried on mathematical and chemistry classes at St. Andrews in 1803-1804, and in 1808 published an Inquiry into National Resources. In 1815 he became minister to Tron parish in Glasgow, where his magnificent oratory, partly published as Astronomical Discourses ( 1817 ) and Commercial Discourses ( 1820 ), took the city by storm. In 1823 he accepted the moral philosophy chair at the University of St. Andrews, where he wrote his Use and Abuse of Literacy and Ecclesiastical Endowments ( 1827). In 1827 he was transferred to the chair of theology in Edinburgh, and in 1832 published a work on political economy. In 1833 appeared his Bridgewater treatise, On the Adaptation of External Nature to the Moral and Intellectual Constitution of Man.

Meanwhile, the struggles in regard to patronage became keener, until in 1843 Chalmers led the Disruption when he, followed by 470 ministers, seceded from the Church of Scotland, and founded the Free Church of Scotland, whose swift and successful organization was mainly due to his indefatigable exertions. He was the first Moderator of its assembly, and principal of the Free Church College from 1843 to 1847, when he compiled his Institutes of Theology. His works, in 34 volumes, deal especially with natural theology, apologetics and social economy. As a religious orator Chalmers was unrivaled. Priness Tetuanui ( 1842 - 1898 ) Born in Tahiti, she married George Dairsie in 1878 and returned to Anstruther with him. The family, including three children of their own, as well as some from the Princess's first marriage, lived in Johnstone Lodge, where the Princess's great charm and grace of manner, along with her open-handed spirit, impressed all who knew her.

Richard Cameron, (1648-80), Scottish Covenanter, born in Falkland, Fife County. During his early career he was a schoolteacher and private tutor. Subsequently he espoused the cause of the Covenanters, who worked to maintain Presbyterianism as the only religion in Scotland. Because Covenanters were being persecuted during the reign of Charles II, king of England, who was Roman Catholic, Cameron went into exile in 1678 and joined other exiled friends in Holland. Returning in 1680, he and others antagonized the government by resisting the measures that reinstated the Episcopal church in Scotland and proscribed public worship by unauthorized religious bodies. In June 1680, with 20 well-armed companions, he entered the town of Sanquhar and publicly renounced allegiance to Charles II for abuse of power, declaring war against him and his followers. Cameron and his men were surprised by royal troops in Ayr County in July 1680, and Cameron was killed. His hands and head were cut off and publicly displayed in Edinburgh.

In 1689 the survivors of the skirmish organized a military unit that became the nucleus of the Cameronians, a famous regiment of the British army. In 1681 his followers organized the religious group later known as the Reformed Presbyterians. Alexander Selkirk, (1676-1721), Scottish sailor, born in Largo in the Fife region. He first went to sea in 1695. In 1703 he became sailing master on the ship Cinque Ports, one of the two vessels of a privateering expedition under the English navigator William Dampier. While the expedition was near the Juan Fernández Islands, off the coast of Chile, Selkirk had a dispute with the captain of his ship. At his own request, he was put ashore in October 1704 on one of the islands. He lived alone there until rescued in February 1709 by the commander of an English privateer, the Duke. Selkirk subsequently continued his career as a sailor, and at the time of his death he was master's mate on the English man-of-war Weymouth.

The story of his solitary sojourn on Más a Tierra Island (now Isla Robinson Crusoe) was related in a number of versions by early 18th-century writers such as the British essayist Sir Richard Steele. It also suggested to the English novelist Daniel Defoe the plot of his novel Robinson Crusoe. Andrew Carnegie, (1835-1919), American industrialist and philanthropist, who, at the age of 33, when he had an annual income of $50,000, said, "Beyond this never earn, make no effort to increase fortune, but spend the surplus each year for benevolent purposes." Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. He went to the U.S. in 1848 and soon began work as a bobbin boy in a cotton mill in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, for $1.20 per week. The following year he became a messenger in a Pittsburgh telegraph office and learned telegraphy. He was then employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad as the private secretary and telegrapher to the railroad official Thomas Alexander Scott.

Carnegie advanced by successive promotions until he was superintendent of the Pittsburgh division of the railroad. His financial interest in what is now the Pullman Company laid the foundation of his fortune, and investments in oil lands near Oil City, Pennsylvania, increased his means. During the American Civil War he served in the War Department under Scott, who was in charge of military transportation and government telegraph service. After the war Carnegie left the railroad and formed a company to produce iron railroad bridges. He later founded a steel mill and was one of the earliest users of the Bessemer process of making steel in the U.S. Carnegie was extremely successful, acquiring a controlling interest in other large steel plants. By 1899, when he consolidated his interests in the Carnegie Steel Company, he controlled about 25 percent of the American iron and steel production. In 1901 he sold his company to the United States Steel Corp. for $250 million and retired. Carnegie did not have a formal education, but as a youth working in Pennsylvania he developed a life-long interest in books and education. During his lifetime he gave more than $350 million to various educational, cultural, and peace institutions, many of which bear his name.

His first public gift was in 1873 for baths in the town of his birth; his largest single gift was in 1911 for $125 million to establish the Carnegie Corporation of New York. He was a benefactor of Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University). He also endowed nearly 1700 libraries in the United States and Great Britain, and he donated funds for the construction of the Peace Palace at The Hague, Netherlands, for what is now the International Court of Justice of the United Nations. Carnegie was honored throughout the world during his lifetime. William Tennant ( 1784-1815 ) Scottish poet and scholar, born in the fishing village of Anstruther, Fife. He studied at St. Andrews University, and in 1812 published a mock-heroic poem Anster Fair, which was the first attempt to naturalize the Italian ottavo rima. He was a teacher from 1816 at Lasswade, from 1819 at Dollar Academy, and from 1835 professor of oriental languages at St. Andrews University.

Other poems by Tennant were the Thane of Fife ( 1822 ) and Papistry Stormed ( 1827 ); dramas were Cardinal Beaton ( 823 ) and John Baliol ( 1825 ). Alexander Gosman was born at Crail in February 1829. His parents were John Gosman and Catherine Auchterlonie. He attended the parish school and then taught in several schools including Glasgow High School, where he was assistant English master, and acted as Chaplain to Glasgow Asylum for the Blind. In 1850 he commenced studying for the ministry at the University of Glasgow. Alexander was ordained in June 1855. In September 1857, he married Jane Buchanan. In response to appeals by the Colonial Missionary Society, he emigrated to Australia with his wife and baby daughter. They arrived in Melbourne on board the 'GREAT BRITAIN' in September 1860. His first charge was at Ballarat where he won renown as a scholar and preacher. In 1864 he was appointed Lecturer, and later Professor at the Congregational College of Victoria.

He was Principal from 1876 to 1913. Alexander held many educational and religious appointments and his reputation as an eminent theologian continued to grow. He became first Chairman of the Congregational Union of Australia in 1884. In 1904 he was awarded a Doctorate of Divinity by the University of St Andrews. He was also a tireless campaigner for the under-privileged and became first President of the Anti--Sweating League. Rev. Alexander Gosman died in January 1913, leaving a widow and six children. Henry Normand McLaurin was born in December 1835 at Kilconquhar. His parents were James McLaurin, who was headmaster of the village school, and Catherine Brearcliffe. They had five children but three died in childhood, leaving two Sons, James Brearcliffe (born 1835), and Henry Normand. The second son was named after one of his father's close friends. Both boys began their education at the parish school run by their father, and they also won scholarships to St Andrews University. James studied for the Ministry, and Normand graduated M.A. in 1854.

By this time both parents had died. James was appointed to a Church in Edinburgh and Normand shared cheap lodging with him while studying medicine at Edinburgh University. By 1857 he had qualified with honours, but his success was marred by James dying of tuberculosis in 1858. Normand then joined the Royal Navy as Assistant Surgeon later that year. He served in several warships, including 'ROYAL ALBERT' and 'MALBOROUGH'. In 1867 he sailed to Australia in the training ship 'NELSON', which anchored in Port Phillip in February 1868. Normand was then sent to Sydney where he joined 'CHALLENGER', flag ship of the Australian Squadron. While based in Sydney, he became friendly with Dr. Charles Nathan, who was Senior Surgeon to the Sydney Infirmary. Normand married Dr. Nathan's daughter, Eliza Ann, in October 1871. By this tine he had left the Navy after refusing to return to Admiralty in London. Normand and Eliza moved to Parramatta, where he had been appointed Government Medical Officer.

In the following year, Eliza's father died and Normand took over his house and practice in Sydney. In November 1872, their first son, Charles, was born. His other sons were Henry Normand, Donald and Hugh. Normand' s career progressed rapidly and he accepted many prestigious appointments, including President of the Board of Health, medical officer to the Police Department, opthalmic surgeon to St Vincent's Hospital and medical adviser to the Immigration Board. Apart from medical commitments, he became involved in politics and was nominated to the Legislative Council in 1889. He also took an active part in commerce and became chairman of several Insurance Companies and the Bank of N.S.W. However, his most important achievements stemmed from his long association with the University of Sydney. He was elected a Fellow of the Senate in 1883. In 1887 he became Vice-Chancellor and then Chancellor in 1896. The University had now become his greatest interest and he devoted most of his time and energy to promoting its development. His considerable financial skills were employed to advantage in his battles for adequate funding. Without his influence, the Medical School would not have been established.

During his Chancellorship, there were inaugurated the Chairs of Dentistry, Pharmacy, Veterinary Science, Engineering and Agriculture. In 1902 he was knighted in the Coronation Honours of Edward VII for his outstanding service to the University of Sydney. He also received honorary degrees from the Universities of St Andrews and Edinburgh. Sir Normand McLaurin died in August 1914 and was buried in Waverley cemetery, beside his wife. David Fowler and his brother George Swan were born near Kilrenny in 1826 and 1839 respectively. Their father was James Fowler who was a local grocer and also the Baptist pastor of Anstruther and Cellardyke. David worked in his father's business initially but decided to emigrate to Australia with his wife, Janet. They arrived at Adelaide on board the 'FOP SMIT' in November 1854, and joined David's eldest brother, James, and sister Margaret, who had arrived in the 'ANNA MARIA' in November 1850. David and James soon started the grocery business of D. & J.

Fowler, which thrived after early setbacks, and they were able to enter the import trade by 1857. However, tragedy struck when James died in 1859 after years of battling against illness. George then came to Australia in July 1860 on board the 'INDUS'. David and George pooled their assets and decided to concentrate on importing. David went back to London to set up a purchasing office while George ran the Australian enterprise. David died in London in November 1881, survived by his wife and family. By the time David died, the firm of D. & J. Fowler had expanded into one of the largest commercial houses in Australia, with branches in most towns. They also owned factories for producing preserves and confectionery, as well as running a large shipping agency for the import of foodstuffs and the export of butter, meat, wheat, copper and wool. By 1896, they had acquired a group of flour-mills and become leading packers of dried fruit. Having also diversified into a major oil agency, the firm had become established as one of the largest privately owned conglomerates in Australia.

In 1864, George had gone back to Scotland to marry Catherine lamb, who survived him when he died in October 1896. Their daughter, Laura Margaret, was the first women graduate in medicine at the University of Adelaide, having qualified in 1891. Their eldest son, James Richard, born May 1865 married Esther Tinline Murray in 1892, and became a director of the family firm. James carried on the Fowler tradition of commercial success. He also served with distinction in various public appointments in Adelaide. John Richardson was born in Freuchie in 1812. His parents were the Rev. John Richardson and Grace Pratt. John was educated at the parish schools in Freuchie and Pitlessie. After working in London for some years, he emigrated to Australia in 1837. He arrived at Sydney in April 1837, on board the 'CAROLINE'. For the next four years he worked with R. BOURNE & Co, but set up as a storekeeper in Brisbane in 1842. He then expanded into merchant importing direct from England and built his own wharf and warehouse.

By 1857, John had branched out into sheep farming, which proved to be a mixture of success and failure. In 1872, he bought over John Moore's general store in Armidale. He and three of his sons, Alexander, Russell and William, built up a flourishing business which grew to be one of the largest firms outside Sydney. They also ran a flour mill and a furniture factory. John entered politics in 1851 when he was elected to the N.S.W. legislative Council, where he represented the County of Stanley. During his political career, he was closely connected with such leading politicians as Sir William Wentwarth, Sir Stuart Donaldson, Sir Charles Cowper and Dr. Lang. In June 1847, at the Scots Church in Sydney, John had married Janet Russell, who bore him five sons and two daughters. John Richardson died at Armidale in December 1888, survived by his wife and children. William Pearson was born at Hilton, Kilmany, in September 1818. His parents were Captain Hugh Pearson, R. N., and Helen Littlejohn. William was educated at Edinburgh High School, and had a brief career at sea.

He emigrated to Australia on board the 'JOHN COOPER', arriving at Adelaide in March 1841. After spending a few months in Melbourne, he journeyed to the Mitchell River, where he stocked Lindenow sheep station. William was an ambitious and determined pioneer, who overcame many daunting obstacles. His sheep farming interests prospered and he became a wealthy landowner. He was also a famous horse--breeder and bred over 100 winning racehorses. In August 1859 he married Eliza Laura Travers, who bore him five sons and two daughters. William Pearson died in August 1893, survived by his wife, three of his Sons and both daughters. Robert Simson was born at Coalfarm near St Monance in October 1819. His parents were Robert Simson and Elizabeth Carstairs. With his cousin, Philip Russell of Kincraig, he emigrated to Australia, arriving in Tasmania in November 1842. Three months later they crossed to Port Phillip and in April 1843 purchased the sheep station at Cairngham. In 1851, Robert returned to Tasmania to marry Catherine Officer.

They came back to Cairngham but moved to Langi Kal Kal which was a larger sheep farm near Beaufort. Robert concentrated on the breeding of high quality merino sheep. This venture was successful and he won many awards at championships all over the world. His contribution to the development of sheep farming in Australia was of major importance, and Robert also took an active part in church affairs and gave generously to the promotion of religious education. He died in November 1896, predeceased by his wife. FOOTNOTE - Two of Robert Simson's brothers also became well known sheep farmers. John (1822 - 1896) and Colin William (1828 - 1905). John married Margaret Luke in 1856 and Colin married Margaret Madelaine Smith in 1862. If you would like to visit Fife as part of a highly personalized small group tour of my native Scotland please e-mail me:

Question: Which Scottish sailor was rescued four years after being put ashore by William Dampier at Juan Fernandez in 1703, for insubordination?
Answer: Alexander Selkirk