Posing as a respectable vicar in Dymchurch at the turn of the 18th century, Dr. Syn is actually the retired pirate Captain Clegg. Clegg, believed hanged in Rye, is no longer being sought by the authorities. However, country life proves too tame for the good "Dr. Syn," and his attention turns to smuggling. He takes on a secret identity, "The Scarecrow," and leads a gang of smugglers known as the Marsh Men. They travel Romney Marsh by night on horseback, sometimes using mounts painted with phosphorus to give them a spectral appearance, spreading legends of supernatural evil and menace. Although a criminal, Syn's appeal is almost Robin Hoodlike. He uses his ill-gotten gains to help his parish, and the King's Men sent to ferret out him and his men are hardly a sympathetic lot, even though they represent the forces of law. It's little wonder that the Doctor Syn proved a hit among readers of its day.

Doctor Syn On The High Seas (chronologically the first in the Doctor Syn series) kicks off the bloody adventure of Christopher Syn. Syn is a mild mannered Doctor of Divinity, until tragedy and fate lead him to a life on the high seas as the bloodthirsty Captain Clegg...

Christopher Syn, tired of his life of piracy, tries to settle down as the vicar of the little town of Dymchurch in Kent, England. Syn's attempt to live an obscure life fails when he is drawn into the local smuggling trade...

A series of episodic adventures for Doctor Christopher Syn, alias "the Scarecrow," as he continues his smuggling endeavors...

Like the previous volume it is an episodic collection of adventures. It follows Syn's adventures in his guise as the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh as he foils all attempts to catch him and to break up the Dymchurch smugglers...

Doctor Syn travels to Wales to compete with another smuggler...

One by one they left London; their reasons various, their destination the same: Romney Marsh. First to leave was a Mr James Bone, better known as Gentleman James, Highwayman-and ally of the mysterious smuggler called the Scarecrow. Close behind: Lord Cullingford. Foolish, foppish Lord Cullingford, desperate with debt, determined to earn the reward due to the man who brought the Scarecrow to justice. On Dover Stage: Captain Bully' Foulkes who had boasted and wagered publicly that he was the man to catch the Scarecrow. And travelling with him by chance, Doctor Syn, Vicar of Dymchurch, much regarded as a clergyman-and with some most unclerical distinctions. Soon their paths would cross, and the meetings would be unhappy for some.