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 in August 1693 before the Kirk Session for his "indecent behaviour" in church, he "did not appear, being gone to sea. Continued until his return."
Early on he was engaged in buccaneering and in 1703 joined the expedition of famed English privateer and explorer William Dampier to the South Seas. While Dampier was captain of the St. George, Selkirk served on the Cinque Ports, the St. George's companion, as a sailing master serving under Thomas Stradling.
Read more about this topic: Alexander Selkirk
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