13 December 2021 marked 300 years since the death of Alexander Selkirk, the monarch of all he surveyed, the originator of Daniel Defoe’s most memorable (alongside the incomparable Moll Flanders) fictional creation Robinson Crusoe.
There can be few Scottish people whose real-life exploits have influenced literature more than Selkirk. True, some may claim Deacon Brodie has a greater claim to this title – he inspired Stevenson’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and gave a colourful background to Muriel Spark’s Jean Brodie. However, Selkirk’s transformation in the hands of Daniel Defoe into that first among survivalists, that man outside and beyond civilisation, Robinson Crusoe, must surely mark him out as the most notable. Crusoe has become a byword for journeys into the unknown and also for humanity’s ability to survive in even the most inauspicious circumstances. Thanks to numerous adaptations, Crusoe’s name has been passed from generation to generation as a story of survival and of selfdiscovery. The story of Crusoe, of course, has deeper resonances – those of reflection on right and wrong, of personal morality and the ability to relate to our fellow human being. It is a tale that will surely last for another 300 years at least.
Yet Selkirk was far more than the living inspiration for one of the first and greatest novels in modern British literature. He was a fascinatingly complex individual whose story illustrates the changing nature of Scotland in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
Early life in Largo
Born in the village of Largo in 1674, the son of John Selcraig and Euphan Mackie, Alexander Selcraig – he changed the name to Selkirk during his time at sea – had what seemed an ordinary life ahead of him. His father, a shoemaker and tanner, was able to send the young boy to the local school in order to gain a rudimental education. Selkirk excelled at navigational training and despite his disruptive behaviour was clearly an intelligent and determined young man.
Though threatened by losing his inheritance, and unlikely to find work without support from his family, Selkirk decided to take to the sea. His mother had apparently encouraged him
