Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Dr. Christopher Syn, The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh


I first read Dr. Syn: A Tale of the Romney Marsh back in college, and reread it this year when an opportunity to work on a project related to it arose.  Written by itinerant actor Russell Thorndike, it’s the story of a pirate that more-or-less repents his ways and becomes and Episcopal priest.  When his parishioners begin to suffer as a result of rampant press gang activity and increased tariffs, he becomes the anonymous smuggler/coyote known as “The Scarecrow.”  Also, he’s quite old, which I think is really charming.
There were prequels published later, and three movies made with the character, one of which was made by Disney and featured a theme song that, in my younger days, was covered by my band in the style of a Spaghetti Western title song, but with kazoos standing in for trumpets.

1 comment:

  1. Great illustration! I never got to read the book(s), but I sure do remember the old Disney television show!

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