During the 1930s, on the Isle of Man, a family called the
Irvings, who lived in a small farmhouse, were to witness a
particularly bizarre case of events.
In the September of 1931, James Irving, his wife Margaret and
their daughter Voirrey, started to hear strange noises like a wild
animal, which emanated from the attic of the farmhouse. Curiously
the "voice" behind these noises started to develop. In a similar
way to a baby learning to speak, the cries started to turn into the
words spoken by James Irving and were repeated parrot fashion by
the unseen creature. In a very short space of time, the being had
effectively learned to speak a good level of English!
Soon the creature, apparently a mongoose by the name of Gef,
introduced itself to the Irving family. He told them that he had
been born on June 7, 1852, in Delhi, India.
As well as talking, Gef, the mongoose, also developed a talent
for singing. He knew the words to a good many popular songs and was
also a bit of a joker, providing the family with an interesting
source of entertainment, except for the time, when the Gef
pretended to have been poisoned, which the family did not find in
the least bit amusing.
Gef insisted on remaining hidden to the family, being seldom
seen except for the daughter Voirrey. The mongoose apparently
resided within the walls of the house or would perhaps hide in the
garden. The only evidences that the creature existed were the sound
of its voice and a few other strange happenings, such as objects
being moved and thrown about the house.
What sort of temperament did Gef have? The evidence available
shows him to be of a benevolent and sensitive nature, but perhaps a
little frisky and accident prone. Gef demonstrated his caring
nature, during at least one occasion, when Margaret Irving managed
to make contact with Gef. Margaret got to stroke the creatures fur,
but unfortunately she cut her finger on Gef's sharp teeth in the
process. Showing concern for the well-being of Margaret, Gef
immediately instructed her to go and put ointment on the wound. On
another occasion, Gef again showed his sensitive side. When the
antics of the mongoose finally proved to be particularly annoying
to the family, they threatened to move out of their house and leave
him. This greatly upset Gef, who loved their company and was afraid
that he would be left on his own. When the family decided to stay,
Gef became much more obedient.
Frequently Gef would venture out of the house and journey around
the Isle. His exceptional elusiveness was used to great effect,
when he would spy on other people and report back to the Irvings
with his tales of what was happening locally. Occasionally, some of
the locals reported hearing the odd sounds of an invisible
creature, which they believed to be the Irving's "pet"
mongoose.
It is interesting to note at this point, that, on the Isle of
Man in approximately 1912, a farmer who apparently owned some
mongooses let them loose into his fields with the intention that
they would kill the rabbits, which were proving to be quite a
nuisance on his farmland. Could some of these mongooses have
continued to have lived and bred on the Isle of Man?
Of course, it was only a matter of time before the story started
to spread away from the Isle of Man, with many more people getting
to hear about it. The story was a great favourite with the British
press, with many journalists flocking to the Irving household, to
try and catch a glimpse of this so elusive creature.
At about this time, the story was to capture the attention of a
famous paranormal investigator of the time, named Harry Price.
Price set out to conduct a proper scientific study of the
Irving's farmhouse, to try an obtain conclusive evidence of the
existence of the mongoose. He got together a team of investigators
and scientists, with which to try and accomplish this task.
The research itself was very unsuccessful. Price himself never
even managed to catch so much as a glimpse of the animal, during
his stay on the Isle. The resulting evidence produced was weak
indeed, consisting of a few blurry photographs of something roaming
outside, in the fields around the farmhouse. The best picture
apparently bore quite a resemblance to a cat. Plus some hairs,
which were found, were remarkably similar to those belonging to the
Irving's dog, Mona.
The British Natural History Museum, also studied some of the
evidence and discredited the alleged paw print casts, which the
Irvings claimed, were made by Gef.
There was also a suggestion made that the voice of Gef was in
actual fact made by the Irving's daughter Voirrey. Price's own
probable conclusion to these events was that Gef was a fantasy
which provided entertainment and interest for the Irving
family.
Well, you are probably wondering, what eventually became of Gef,
if he did at all exist? The Irving family themselves finally moved
out of the farmhouse in 1937. Later in 1947, the new owner of the
farm claimed that he had shot a "strange looking mongoose like
animal," which had been roaming around the property. Although some
say that this may well have been Gef, the majority of people on the
Isle of Man at the time were sure that Gef left the farmhouse along
with the Irving family. When you consider how fond Gef was of the
family, this makes for rather a pleasant end to the tale.
The farmhouse doesn't exist any more, or at least I can't see
any sign of it at Doarlish Cashen. There is a modern barn at the
site marked on the OS Map (54°10.261'N, 4°42.424'W), but I suspect
that this was not built on the site of the "Gef" incident. My guess
is that it's near to the bridleway that runs through this area:
there's a drain just a few yards downhill from the cache which
might give an indication, and the area seems curiously "spare" as
if there was something else there previously.
In any case, something of the remote and lonely atmosphere
remains here. I would imagine that visitors were at a premium in
this lonely place, and Voirrey could have been tempted to use her
friendly mongoose story to attract much-needed attention.
The best route to the cache is the steep track from Glen Maye.
Park at The Waterfall (54°11.012'N, 4°42.343'W) then walk or cycle
to 54°10.901'N, 4°42.178'W, following the narrow tarmac road until
it ends at a house with several sheepdogs (Loaghtan sheep may be
seen nearby). A rough, narrow and dark lane branches off here, then
climbs relentlessly upwards to Doarlish Cashen. The cache is a
camouflaged 35mm film container - it shouldn't be difficult to spot
and the GPS signal should be perfect.
There is a path from the south, beginning at 54°09.448'N,
4°42.610'W and passing 54°09.751'N, 4°42.628'W, then 54°09.839'N,
4°42.714'W, over the stile at 54°09.919'N, 4°42.715'W, then
54°09.988'N, 4°42.476'W. Although fairly level walking, the first
section of footpath is in very poor condition (choked with gorse)
so it's probably harder than the Glen Maye route. Both routes are
just over a mile each way.
Although a larger cache was possible here, I chose to only leave a
micro as it's the atmosphere and the location that are the main
interest rather than the swaps: so a discreet micro seemed more
appropriate.
Acknowledgements to Mark Henson for the research.
Also see
the Harry Price account.