Alexander_Selkirk Alexander Selkirk, born Alexander Selcraig (1676 Scottish sailor who spent four years as a castaway when he was marooned on an uninhabited island. It is probable that his travails provided the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe. He was immortalised by the poet William Cowper in his poem The Solitude Of Alexander Selkirk, which gave rise to the common phrase, monarch of all I survey, as in 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.