A peg leg is a prosthesis, or artificial limb, fitted to the remaining stump of a human leg, especially a wooden one fitted at the knee.[Cantos, Mae (2005) "Pirates & Peg Legs: a Historical Look at Amputation and Prosthetics" In: Whitelaw, William A. (2005) (editor) Proceedings of the 14h Annual History of Medicine Days Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, pp. 16–20, , page 16]
History
By the late 19th century, prosthetics vendors would offer peg legs as cheaper alternatives to more intricate, lifelike artificial legs.
Even as vendors touted advantages of more complicated prostheses over simple peg legs,
[
according to a contemporary surgeon, many patients found a peg leg more comfortable for walking.]
Nowadays, wooden peg legs have been replaced by more modern materials, though some sports prostheses do have the same form.[Clarke, Carl D. (1965) Prosthetics Standard Arts Press, Butler, Maryland, , page 182]
Notable peg leg wearers
-
François Le Clerc (died 1563), privateer
-
Cornelis Jol, (1597–1641), privateer and Dutch West India Company admiral
-
Peter Stuyvesant (1612–1672), Dutch Director-General of New Amsterdam
-
Blas de Lezo (1687–1741), Spanish admiral
-
Gouverneur Morris (1752–1816), American politician
-
Brook Watson (1735–1807), Lord Mayor of London
-
Pierre Daumesnil (1776–1832), French general
-
Józef Sowiński (1777–1831), Polish General
-
Billy Waters (1778–1823), aka Black Billy, former African American slave, then sailor in the British Navy until he became an amputee. Also a busker of prolific merit.
-
Vuk Karadžić (1787–1864), Serbian linguist
-
Thomas L. Smith (1801–1866), American mountain man
-
Albert Chmielowski (1845–1916), Polish artist, founder of the Albertine Brothers and Sisters, saint of the Catholic Church
-
Robert McAlpin Williamson (1804?–1859), nicknamed "Three-legged Willie", Republic of Texas Supreme Court Justice, state lawmaker, and Texas Ranger
-
Kushibiki Yumindo (1859?–1924), Japanese impresario
-
Peg Leg Bates (1907–1998), dancer
-
Peg Leg Sam (Arthur Jackson) (1911–1977), American blues musician
-
Bill Veeck (1914–1986), American baseball executive
-
Joe "Pegleg" Morgan (1929–1993), first non-Hispanic member of the Mexican Mafia, an American criminal organization
Further reading
Books
-
Murdoch, George and Wilson, A. Bennett (1998) A primer on amputations and artificial limbs C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois,
-
Pitkin, Mark R. (2009) Biomechanics of Lower Limb Prosthetics Springer verlag, New York,
-
Seymour, Ron (2002) Prosthetics and orthotics: lower limb and spinal Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
-
Warren, D. W. (2001) James Gillingham: surgical mechanist & manufacturer of artificial limbs Somerset Industrial Archaeology Society, Taunton, England,
Articles
-
-
Cantos, Mae (2005) "Pirates & Peg Legs: a Historical Look at Amputation and Prosthetics" In: Whitelaw, William A. (2005) (editor) Proceedings of the 14h Annual History of Medicine Days Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, pp. 16–20,
-
Reeves, Nicholas (1999) "New lights on ancient Egyptian prosthetic medicine" In: Davies, W. V. (editor) (1999) Studies in Egyptian Antiquities. A Tribute to T.G.H. James British Museum Press, London, pp. 73–77,
-
Wilson, Philip D. (1922) "Early weight-bearing in the treatment of amputations of the lower limbs" The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery 4: pp. 224–247
