Captain Clegg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Captain Clegg is a fictional character and is one of the aliases of the Rev. Dr. Christopher Syn in a series of novels by Russell Thorndike.
Doctor Syn had been a humble country vicar married to the Spanish Imogene. When his wife was seduced away from him, Syn swore vengeance and became the pirate Clegg to hunt Imogene and her lover, Nicholas down. Eventually, Syn tired of his quest and returned to the little town of Dymchurch to resume his life as a clergyman. As fate would have it, his old enemy Nicholas - now "Black Nick" the pirate - was arrested nearby. Syn agreed to raise Nick's baby daughter by Imogene as his own. In return the Black Nick confessed to being Captain Clegg. When Nick died on the scaffold, Syn hoped all evidence that Syn and Clegg were one and the same would die with him. In later books, this proved not to be the case - in particular, Clegg was known to have a tattoo of a man walking the plank on his arm that could identify Dr Syn as the pirate.
Clegg is mentioned in several of Thorndyke's novels but only plays an active part in Doctor Syn on the High Seas. The author seems more interested in telling of Syn's adventures as the costumed Scarecrow than of his more blood-thirsty career as Clegg.
In the novel the name "Clegg" is said to have been taken from a Native American word for a fierce biting ant.
Peter Cushing portrayed Clegg in the 1962 Hammer film Captain Clegg, which is also known by the title Night Creatures in the United States. The main character's name was changed from Doctor Syn to Dr. Blyss to avoid rights problems with Disney who had a competing film version released in the same time period. The original film of Doctor Syn starring George Arliss was its star's last film.
Captain Clegg is a song from the album Caravan Beyond Redemption by the English doom metal band Cathedral.