For almost 80 years speculation has surrounded the case of the Dalby Spook — a talking mongoose called Gef — since a 13-year-old girl is said to have first seen it in 1931.
Christopher Josiffe, a cataloguer at London University's Senate Library, has conducted research into the case which he has documented at the Fortean Times (January 2011) Gef the Talking Mongoose; the Flat That Time Forgot; Alan Godfrey Abduction of 1980; Origins of Inspiration and the Power of the Ouija Board; Phantom Cat; London Earthquake; Invisible Terrors; Crop Circles in Cyberspace (FT269)
published at the Fortean TimesThe following is an overview of the case:
THE STORY OF 'GEF'
The strange saga of Gef the talking mongoose began in Autumn 1931 in an isolated farmstead on the Isle of Man called Doarlish Cashen (Cashen's Gap). The farm was home to 60-yr-old Jim Irving, his wife Margaret, and their 12-yr old daughter Voirrey.
Jim had been a commercial traveler before taking up farming in his retirement. The farm was not a success. Productivity was dropping, and the family struggled to make ends meet. They had no electricity, no phone and no radio. Their nearest neighbours lived over a mile away.
The Thing in the Walls
One dull September evening, the family heard inexplicable "blowing, spitting and growling" sounds coming from behind the wooden paneling lining the farmhouse walls. Jim thought a rat was to blame, and tried in vain to drive it from its lair.
The strange noises persisted over the following days. Jim set traps and laid down poison, but all to no avail. In desperation, he even tried to flush the intruder out by growling like a dog. To his surprise, it growled right back at him!
The elusive creature proved to be a talented mimic. It ingratiated itself with Jim by dutifully repeating his imitations of various animals and birds. Soon, he had only to name an animal and it would promptly respond with the appropriate imitation. At other times it made a gurgling sound like a baby attempting to form its first words. Then it began to talk...
Gef Introduces Himself
By way of experiment, Voirrey asked the creature to repeat some nursery rhymes. It obliged in a clear, if very squeaky, voice. Soon it was speaking freely. It introduced itself as Gef (pronounced 'Jeff') and claimed to be "an extra clever mongoose" born in Delhi, India in 1852. (A neighbouring farmer had actually imported Mongeese to the island 20 years earlier, hoping to curb the local rabbit population.)
Gef was soon holding regular conversations with both Voirrey and her father. (He seemed rather less friendly towards Voirrey's mother, Margaret.) He began nesting in a boxed partition in Voirrey's room, which the family dubbed "Gef's sanctum".
Although Jim and Margaret both caught brief glimpses of Gef, only Voirrey was allowed to look at him directly. She described him as being the size of a small rat, with yellowish fur and a long bushy tail.
Gef's Habits
Gef soon became one of the family. During the day he would roam the island, riding on the back axles of buses and cars. In the evening he would return home to share the news and gossip he had picked up on his travels. Sometimes he would also read out items from the local newspapers.
Gef's Sanctum "It announces its presence by calling either myself or my wife by our Christian names," Jim Irving wrote. "It's hearing powers are phenomenal. It is no use whispering. It detects the whisper 15-20 feet away, tells you that you are whispering, and repeats exactly what one has said."
Gef would often bring rabbits home for Margaret to cook. In return, he was given tidbits such as biscuits, sweets and chocolate. He was also fond of bacon and sausages. The food would be left out for him on the crossbeams near the ceiling, and he would sneak out and snatch it when no-one was looking.
Like many a poltergeist Gef had a rather short fuse. For example, he once suddenly flew into a rage when he thought Jim was taking too long opening the morning post. "Read it out, you fat-headed gnome!" he squeaked furiously.
He also seemed to enjoy deliberately provoking Voirrey's parents. One night, he made a nuisance of himself by sighing and groaning for 30 minutes without pause, before confessing, "I did it for devilment!"
On another occasion, Margaret found herself being pelted with stones as she walked home. "Is that you, Gef?" she called out. "Yes, Maggie the witch woman, the Zulu Woman, the Honolulu woman!" taunted the impertinent mongoose.
Gef's Fame
Voirrey and Jim Irving with Richard Lambert The Manx papers ran a series of gently mocking articles about the 'Dalby Spook' (as they dubbed Gef) which led to Voirrey being teased mercilessly at school. Gef's fame spread to the mainland after Jim Irving persuaded the psychic researcher (and inveterate self-publicist) Harry Price to take an interest in the case.
But even as Gef's notoriety grew, his visits to the Irvings became fewer and farther between. By the time Price showed up to investigate in person, the marvellous mongoose was conspicuous only by his absence.
In 1936, Price published the results of his investigation in a book co-authored with journalist Richard Lambert entitled The Haunting of Cashen's Gap: A Modern 'Miracle' Explained
Although Price did not explicitly accuse the Irvings of perpetrating a hoax, neither did he validate their claims.Farewell to Gef
Soon after Price's book was published, the Irvings left Cashen's Gap for the mainland. Gef did not follow them there, nor did he introduce himself to the new owner, a Mr. Graham.
Intriguingly, in 1947 Graham trapped and killed a strange looking animal that seemed to be neither ferret, stoat nor weasel. "It answers to all descriptions," the puzzled farmer told the local press. Eventually, Graham too left Cashen's Gap, and the farmhouse was demolished.
In 1970, a reporter from FATE magazine managed to track Voirrey down for an interview. She proved reluctant to discuss her former life with Gef. "Yes, there was a little animal who talked and did all those other things," she admitted. "He said he was a mongoose and we should call him Gef... But I do wish he had let us alone." - dalbyspook.110mb.com / thesupernaturalworld.com
Psychic Pets & Spirit Animals: True Stories from the Files of FATE (Fate Presents)
What Was Gef?
Nandor Fodor, distinguished parapsychologist and psychoanalyst, investigated the case. He came to the following final conclusions:
* Not a poltergeist: Gef performed bodily functions that poltergeists don’t. He had three fingers and a thumb, so he could pick up items and, on one occasion, tug at Jim’s pants. Fodor sent Gef a book about poltergeists before he went to Doarlish Cashen. Gef said he wasn’t like poltergeists when Jim read the book to him.
* Not a Familiar: These acquire knowledge by “supernatural” means. Gef gained knowledge through the normal five senses.
* An animal? Gef drank, slept, ate, urinated and regurgitated. He talked in his sleep. He left tooth marks in food. He also caught colds. Fodor theorized that Gef was a mongoose or relative of that fauna family who learned to talk. Years before, a farmer imported mongooses to kill rabbits on his land. Fodor accepted what Gef said he was, an extra clever small mongoose.
Gef wasn’t a cryptid, like Bigfoot. There are multiple sightings of more than one of these creatures and there is no record of a talking cryptid.
NOTE: I never could quite wrap my head around this case...though it does make an interesting tale. Read the Fortean Times post...many more details. Lon
Haunted People: The Story Of The Poltergeist Down The Centuries
Paranormality: Why we see what isn't there
The Folk-Lore of the Isle of Man: Being an Account of its Myths, Legends, Superstitions, Customs & Proverbs (Forgotten Books)
