The Reverend Doctor Christopher Syn is the smuggler hero of a series of novels by Russell Thorndike. The first book, Doctor Syn: A Tale of the Romney Marsh was published in 1915. The story idea came from legendary coastal smuggling in the 18th century around well-known Romney Marsh, where brandy and tobacco were brought in at night by boat from France to avoid the tax. Minor battles were fought, sometimes at night, between gangs of smugglers, such as the Hawkhurst Gang, and His Majesty's Customs and Excise, supported by the British Army, Royal Navy and local militias in the counties of the South Kent and Sussex.