Just a few miles down the coast from Pittenweem is the village of Lower Largo. It's probably not as well known as some of the coastal villages but nevertheless has a very famous son - Alexander Selkirk. Never heard of him? Well I'll bet you've heard of Robinson Crusoe!
The famous story is based on Selkirk's reluctant adventures. He grew up in Lower Largo but, at the age of 19, fled to sea as a result of a family feud and became a privateer. After some particularly ferocious fighting at sea and after falling out with the commander of the ship on which he sailed, Selkirk found himself marooned on a small island more than 400 miles off the West Coast of Chile. By all accounts he took only some clothing and bedding, a musket and powder, some tools, a bible and tobacco. He survived for almost five years by hunting goats, eating their meat and using their skins for clothing. He was finally rescued by a British privateer ship that had been alerted by Selkirk's signal beacon.
He became a privateer once again and returned to Largo in 1712 with a fortune of £800 to the astonishment of his family who had given him up for dead. His journals were the basis of Daniel Defoe's famous novel published in 1719. Only a year later he joined the Royal Navy and returned to the sea only to die of fever off the coast of Africa.
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