Doctor Dolittle or too dull. The stories are set in early Victorian England, where Doctor John Dolittle lives in the fictional English village of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh in the West Country. Doctor Dolittle has a few close human friends, including Tommy Stubbins and Matthew Mugg, the Cats'-Meat Man. The animal team includes Polynesia (a parrot), Gub-Gub (a pig), Jip (a dog), Dab-Dab (a duck), Chee-Chee (a monkey), Too-Too (an owl), the Pushmi-pullyu, and a white mouse later named simply "Whitey". One inspiration for his character appears to be the Scottish surgeon John Hunter. "The Story of Doctor Dolittle: Being the History of His Peculiar
Romney Marsh centuries. The traffic was two-way, since wool was also smuggled to the Continent. The main gangs on the Marsh were the Hawkhurst Gang, the Mayfield Gang and the Aldington Gang, known also as "the Blues". Smugglers on the Marshes were known as "Owlers" - rumoured to be from the owl-like sounds they used to communicate at night. Romney Marsh has a distinguished literary history. Three authors who specifically used the marsh as settings for their works were E.F. Benson, author of the Mapp and Lucia novels; Russell Thorndike, author of the Doctor Syn novels; and the children's writer Monica Edwards,