Jef the Mongoose (Isle of Man)

Hello everybody. I am currently trying to find out more about this particular "haunt", especially in recent literature.
I know very well the story itself but I am unaware of recent research developments, though I seem to vaguely recall that, like many Harry Price related cases (ie Borley Rectory), it has beeen surrounded by much controversy.
Can anybody help?
Thanks.

Unfortunately, the only information I have is in Dr Shuker's The Unexplained, or Atlas of the Unexplained... It says that the mongoose (in here called Gef) haunted the Irving family farmhouse- Doarlish Cashen during the '30s. It also describes some people's belief that the so-called mongoose, was actually the couple's daughter who had mastered ventriloquism.

I don't know what to make of this. Why would a Herpestid find its way this far out of its home range, and more importantly, how on earth does it manage to talk!? Kind of reminds me of an ancient story about a mongoose that was half golden, touched by a good deed, and roamed the land looking for another good deed so that it could become fully golden in colour.

Thanks for your reply.
It is said that in 1914 a farmer living near Doarlish Cashen obtained a number of the little beasts from India and set them loose in an attempt to get rid of the rabbits who threatened his crops.
This was regarded as a piece of folklore until another farmer shot a real mongoose at Cashen's Gap in 1947: I think this particualr animal was stuffed and preserved, though I don't know if the specimen is still in existence. Of course there's no way of telling if this particular mongoose was a descendant of the animals set loose in 1914 or just an escaped pet.
Even if there was a true mongoose living in the farmstead this wouldn't explain its exceptional powers: apart from the celebrated voice (which, reportedly, could also talk and sing in Hindi) there were a few other accidents, like the dead rabbits left on the kitchen floor (it should be noted that these rodents were strangled and bore no teeth mark nor they had their neck broken), the objects thrown at Price's associate, Captain McDonald, or the weird footprints Price reportedly obtained on a few blocks of plasticine.
Of course fraud could explain all of this but like I said i have been unable to locate more serious and recent research on the matter.

Hope this isn't too late, but I wrote a piece a few years ago reappraising Gef's story which I never progressed to publication stage, but perhaps I should review it - anyway I was always surprised that the story isn't more well known. I'm sure I first read about it in the Usbourne Book of the Unexplained (or something along those lines), but it's always been a story that's intrigued me a bit more. Anyway, here are the references I used in the article - The Isle of Man Examiner, 19 Feb 1932, Fodor Nandor: Between Two Worlds and ] William McGraw: ‘Gef the Talking Mongoose’ - afraid I don't have the name of the publication for the latter as all my bits are in storage at the moment.

Hope this helps

To agricola,
I,ve registred on this site because:
Yesterday feb 26, 2008 I started to read Dr. Nandor Fodor's *Between two worlds* copy donated to me by a now deceased, musician,traveler, and close aunt of mine.
Today, feb 27, 13:00 I almost finished reading the chapter on Gef the Mongoose (Isle of Man) and had done some searchs on Wikipedia about the Isle of Man, mongoose s of different types, but when I reached this site and accidently came upon your note of yesterday...
At this point, I find this interesting!
Hope this is readable, since I live in a french town in Québec, Canada

Today, feb 28th, 11:40 (my area time) After sending the abobe message, I read the next chapters *Fairies Should be Seen But Not Heard of* and *Gifts from Heaven* which relates to odd coincidences: page 203:*
...Still, I shrugged my shoulders. The grounds were too slender to think that a spirit had taken my watch winder and had returned it. The fact that my wife looked for a ladybird and that the ladybird, in her subconscious mind, was associated with apports, was surely mere coincidence.
And now to the really strange part of this story.
Having succeeded in explaining to my wife how odd coincidences may be, I picked up Mr. Arthur Hill's book, Letters from Sir Oliver Lodge, with which I had just come home from a library.
To my amazement, almost immediately I found a passage in which Arthur Hill described how Sir Oliver Lodge, during a visit to his house at Bradford, had lost his watch winder. After he was gone, he (Mr Hill) had found it and had sent it back to him.
Can any mathematician give me an idea what is the calculus of probabilities regarding such a remarkable series of events occuring by chance?*

Anyone with a ratio?

Hmmmm too many coincidences as I only registered on the forums yesterday (despite being a site visitor for years)....

Fellows, fellows, relax.
I would love to hear more about this very interesting case and if you'll ever publich your article just let me know!

I've fired it off to this very website...

Hi

I have placed the article on the main site: http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/hauntings/gef_the_talking_mongoose.html
Many thanks Agricola, I enjoyed reading it, it brought back memories of when I first read it in the Usborne Book of Ghosts as a kid.

Slightly off topic: has anyone heard of the controvesy about Harry Price? I remember reading an article that he faked phenomena, and was to be exposed as a fraud. I think Ian knows more about this.
DJP

Thanks indeed Agricola - great little summary of Gef.

DJP - I've just got Richard Morris' biography of Price ('Harry Price: Psychic Detective' Sutton Publishing 2006) but having yet to read it I'm not sure if it covers fakery. Also Fortean Times had a long article on Price in their Nov. 07 issue (FT229). And lots at http://www.harryprice.co.uk/.

Oh and hello everyone - this is my first post here!

Welcome aboard Angrybonbon

Hey Angrybonbon. Thanks for that. Interesting name BTW.

Anyone know of any non-talking mongoose sightings?

Quote :

DJP - I've just got Richard Morris' biography of Price ('Harry Price: Psychic Detective' Sutton Publishing 2006) but having yet to read it I'm not sure if it covers fakery. Also Fortean Times had a long article on Price in their Nov. 07 issue (FT229). And lots at http://www.harryprice.co.uk/.

Thanks for that and welcome angrybonbon, I will check out the link, I am sure I read somewhere he was caught with a pocket full of stones during a haunting but this was never made public.