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Mystery remains in Selkirk tale

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From: The Scotsman
Date: 20050922
Author:Stephen McGinty

WHILE Daisuke Takahashi solved the mystery of the location of Alexander Selkirk's base camp, another tantalising mystery remains: did Selkirk ever meet the man who would immortalise him as Robinson Crusoe?

Takahashi's search for a connection between Alexander Selkirk and the journalist and businessman Daniel Defoe produced only a maze of obstacles and stories that are considered to be apocryphal. According to one tale Defoe callously plundered Selkirk's journal for his material while telling him that a first-hand account would never sell.

This, of course, was incorrect, as the most popular ...

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