CASE No.9 | GEF: The Thing at Cashens Gap|
In an ancient stone cottage atop a steep, rocky climb from the middle of nowhere to the height of isolation, a horrifying entity once made its home with an unassuming family who never saw it coming . . . but didn’t want to make it go.
Transcript of podcast narration:
The Isle of Man is a small island located in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland. Known for its rugged coastline, medieval castles, and Celtic and Viking heritage, the it’s a place rich in history and folklore. But none of its ancient tales—no matter how thrilling or disturbing--can match the story of the true events which occured on this island in the early 1930s. For it was in this secluded and somewhat mystical environment that one of the most truly horrifying and explicable events in supernatural history played out. The manifestation of a being locals called the Dalby Spook—a being which called itself by the name of Gef.
The primary figures in the Gef saga were the members of the Irving family, who lived in a remote farmhouse called Doarlish Cashen, near the village of Dalby. The family consisted of James Irving, a retired traveling salesman; his wife, Margaret; and their teenage daughter, Voirrey (the local Manx version of Mary), as well as an elder daughter who had left the home before the events transpired. The Irvings’ life was an intensely isolated one, and until the coming of Gef, little happened to offer any diversion from the sometimes painfully ordinary events of each day.
The Irving family first reported strange occurrences in September 1931. It was then that they began to notice, in their farmyard, a creature described as
“similar in appearance to a weasel, with small body, long bushy tail, flat nose, and yellow in color. “
The animals, including the chickens, seemed unbothered by the encroacher. Not long after the Irvings began to see the creature inside the family’s cottage. Unlike the farm animals, however, the Irvings were very bothered by it indeed.
James Irving reported later that “This eerie weasel, as I thought he might be, then began to keep us awake at night by blowing, spitting and growling behind the matchboard partition of the lower rooms…” The family was frequently aroused by its scratching, grunting and rustling, which could be heard behind the distinctive wooden walls of the house: a feature that allowed for an open space for the creature to freely run through the walls of the structure. James responded to the nuisance as any farmer would to a pesky animal: he tried to kill it with poison, traps or by trying to shoot it. Though the sounds of the thing were at first rough and muffled animal like sounds, the family found to their horror that they were quickly changing. Now, they realized, this was a human voice.
Because the attempts to fell the creature continued to fail, the family finally gave in and decided to try to talk to it. In shock and wonder, they listened as it talked back. The family began to teach the creature, the voice. Soon the Irivings were calling the creature by the name of “Jack.” As famed ghost researcher Harry Price wrote in his 1936 book, Confessions of a Ghost Hunter, “From that day onwards the ‘talking mongoose’ became an intimate and valued member of the Irving family.”
It wasn’t long before the creature corrected their name for it, telling the family its name was Gef, spelling it G E F. It went on to tell them that “he” was, in fact, not a spirit but a mongoose, and that he had been born in India in 1852. But Gef wasn’t just any mongoose. He told them, I am an extra clever mongoose.” Later, he would change his story, claiming, “I am a ghost in the form of a mongoose.”
Gef's interactions with the family grew increasingly complex and bizarre, ranging from playful banter to alarming threats. The family began to keep a diary to record all of the creature’s vocalizations and activities, a collection which would stun later investigators into the case.
Gef told the Irvings:
“I shall haunt you with weird noises and clanking chains."
He claimed he could become invisible at will and could travel at extraordinary speed, and he boasted about his ability to read minds, saying,
"I know what you are thinking. I know what you are saying."
And he proved it by spying on far away neighbors and workers and reporting back entire conversations to the family.
Gef often stated his role in protecting the Irving household, saying,
"I'll follow you wherever you go. If you are ever in danger, I'll protect you."
Gef claimed he helped the family by killing rats and mice in the house. He once said,
"I catch the mice for you."
He also claimed to have killed rabbits that appeared before the family for their dinner.
Gef was known to sing, whistle, and mimic various sounds and songs, including popular tunes of the time. His favorite was “Carolina Moon” a record of which he would put on the turntable and sing along with.
He imitated animal sounds and the voices of the family members. Gef often mimicked the family's conversations and even their accents.
He once remarked,
"I have three senses. But I have no soul, no soul . . “
Gef sometimes spoke about the afterlife and spirits. He described himself as being in between the spiritual and physical realms.
Sometimes, his cheerful or insightful commentary turned dark and menacing. He once said:
"I could kill you all if I liked, but I won’t."
One of the most bizarre and infamous of Gef’s many statements was:
“I am a freak. I have hands, and I have feet, and if you saw me, you'd faint. You'd be petrified, mummified, turned into a pillar of salt!”
Gef’s hot and cold relationship with the family, his every changing moods of helpfulness and hate, may remind us of stories of the fairy folk or fae. Like the fae, too, Gef also liked edible niceties such as liked biscuits and chocolates, which the Irvings would leave out for him.
From the beginning, the thing called Gef seemed to have a particular attachment to Voirrey, the teenaged daughter. A news article described an incident in which, early on in the disturbances, the Irvings decided to move Voirrey’s bed into their own bedroom, as they were concerned about the fact that the thing seemed to have a particular interest in her.
Gef apparently overheard their discussion, because a voice blared from behind the wall,
I’ll follow her wherever you move her.‟
Ignoring it, they moved the bed in with theirs and , as James Irving recalled, and “barricaded the doors, placing in front of it dressing boxes, chairs and a heavy weight. Not long after, they “saw the top of the door bulging in as if some terrific force were thrusting iself against it.”
Then they heard the eerie, high voice. It said:
I’m coming in.
The family were not the only witnesses to Gef’s disturbances. One visitor did a double take while sitting at the family table. When questioned about his open-mouthed stare, he said he could have sworn he’d seen a white cat jump from the lap of one of the family members. Another day, a group of men was working on a nearby road when they broke for lunch. After eating, one of the men threw a scrap of bread into an adjacent field. They all watched in wonder as the bread was seen to move on its own. On another occasion, one of James’ cousins was ploughing his own land on the island when a rock came hurtling over a hedge. A swift investigation revealed no one to be seen anywhere.
Several notable investigators visited the Irving farmhouse to study the phenomenon firsthand. Among them were Harry Price, the well-known British psychic researcher, and Nandor Fodor, a Hungarian-American parapsychologist.
In the winter of 1932, Price received word of the bizarre happenings at the house from a local. He later wrote:
“My correspondent informed me that a farmer friend of hers, a Mr James T Irving, had discovered in his house an animal which, after a little coax had developed the power of speech, and was practically human, except in form.”[2]
During their own later correspondence, james iriving invited Price to come and see the creature himself, the thing that had made its home with them.
Deeply skeptical but nonetheless intrigued, Price made the journey to the Isle of Man and found the way to the Irving’s cottage only with great effort. It sat at the top of a steep grade running up from the distant town. No road allowed vehicle access, and there was no electricity and no phone. Lamps still burned with the aid of petroleum. It all seemed eerily lost in a former time.
Harry Price was well-known for his rigorous approach to investigating paranormal phenomena, often employing scientific methods and a healthy dose of skepticism. By the time he took an interest in Gef, Price had already made a name for himself investigating other famous cases, such as Borley Rectory, which was dubbed "the most haunted house in England." His reputation lent a degree of credibility to the investigation of Gef, which many dismissed as an elaborate hoax.
Price had brought along R.S. Lambert, a colleague and fellow researcher, on his visit to the Irving farmhouse. They spent several days there, meticulously documenting their observations and interviewing the family. Price's methods were thorough; he examined the house for any evidence of trickery, such as hidden speakers or secret passages, that could explain the mysterious sounds and voices attributed to Gef. Like others before and after, he found the strange walls significant: the fact that an open space ran entirely around the house behind them.
But upon their arrival, the Irvings told the pair that Gef had (rather conveniently) disappeared. Despite their pleadings, throughout the stay Gef did not speak or cause any disturbances, but Price took detailed notes and photographs of the farmhouse and its surroundings, and he collected samples of what the Irvings claimed were Gef's hair and footprints. These samples were later analyzed but failed to provide any conclusive evidence of Gef's existence.
After returning to London, Price received a letter from the Irvings, which included Gef’s statement that he had not appeared during the investigators’ visit because Lambert did not believe.
Price and Lambert went to work documenting their findings, publishing them in a 1936 book, The Haunting of Cashen's Gap , The book presented a balanced view of the case, detailing the strange occurrences reported by the Irvings and the investigators' own experiences. In his summary, Price left the case open-ended. He leaned toward belief that the episode was a hoax, but not one orchestrated for money. In fact, James Irving had turned away offers to buy one of the few photographs of the creature, not wanting to give it up. He also hung up on a theatrical agent who offered 50,000 dollars for the story: a mammoth sum of money at the time.
Nandor Fodor, another famous investigator, also traveled to Cashen’s Gap to spend time with the family, in hopes of observing the creature in action. A trained psychologist, he would come to conclude that Gef was real: that is, that he was an actual talking animal. But later, he changed his mind, positing that Gef was very real, indeed, but a sort of split off aspect of James Irving’s psyche, which he had unconsiousnly manufactured to deal with the depressing reality of his dead-end, remote life.
Other investigators, both amateur and professional, visited the site and interviewed the family, but none were able to provide definitive proof of Gef's existence. The lack of physical evidence, combined with the highly subjective nature of the reported phenomena, made it difficult to draw any firm conclusions.
And yet Gef’s interactions with the family were at full force throughout it all, with James recording in the family’s diary the surreal things that each day brought. On one gray May day, James wrote that the invisible creature
“Took hold of my fingers with his hands several times . . . . “Mam [Mrs Irving] had her fingers in his mouth and could feel his teeth.” [29]
The Gef phenomenon gradually faded from public attention as the years passed. James Irving died in 1945, and Margaret and Voirrey moved away from the farmhouse. Voirrey, who had been the center of much of the speculation, maintained her innocence and insisted that Gef was real until her death in 2005.
The tale of Gef has left a lasting legacy in popular culture. The story has been the subject of numerous books, articles, and documentaries, each offering different perspectives and interpretations. It has also inspired works of fiction, including novels, short stories, and plays.
Over the years, numerous theories have been proposed to explain the mystery of Gef. These theories can be broadly categorized into three main groups: natural explanations, psychological explanations, and paranormal explanations.
One of the simplest explanations is that Gef was a hoax perpetrated by the Irving family, either for attention or financial gain. Skeptics argue that the family could have used ventriloquism or other tricks to create the illusion of a talking mongoose. Some suggest that Voirrey, the teenage daughter, may have been the primary instigator, using her talent for mimicry to produce the strange voices and sounds.
Another natural explanation is that Gef was a wild animal, such as a mongoose or a weasel, that learned to mimic human speech. While this is theoretically possible, it is highly unlikely given the complexity and fluency of Gef's speech, as well as his reported supernatural abilities.
Psychological explanations focus on the mental and emotional state of the Irving family. Some researchers believe that the family, particularly James Irving, may have been suffering from a form of collective delusion or mass hysteria. This theory suggests that the isolated and stressful environment of the farmhouse, combined with a predisposition to believe in the supernatural, led the family to experience and interpret ordinary events in extraordinary ways.
Another psychological theory is that Gef was a manifestation of a poltergeist phenomenon. Poltergeists are typically associated with physical disturbances and unexplained noises, often occurring in the presence of a specific individual, usually an adolescent. In this case, Voirrey could have been the focus of the poltergeist activity, with Gef representing a physical manifestation of her unconscious mind.
For those who believe in the paranormal, Gef is seen as a genuine supernatural entity. Some proponents of this view argue that Gef was a spirit or a ghost that took the form of a mongoose to communicate with the Irving family. Others suggest that Gef was a type of elemental or nature spirit, a creature from folklore that inhabited the land around the farmhouse. Still others are firm in their conviction that Gef was a demonic manifestation, possibly brought forth by inapproporiate family relations.
In fact, a number of researchers have speculated that incest between James and Voirrey may have been part of the Gef case, a theory found in similar cases of “talking poltergeists” like that of the Bell Witch of 19th century Tennessee. Such theories wonder if some intense psycho-physical situation was caused by abominable relations between father and daughter, or if such relations opened the door for a demonic infestation or other diabolical infiltration of the Irving family.
Harry Price was one of many to suggest that Gef resembled old tales of witches’ familiars, demons or fairies who took corporeal form in order to do the bidding of their masters. These are typically domesticated animals such as cats or dogs, and of course folklore is rife with the black felines and canines at the side of spellcasters both ancient and modern. But a little digging will uncover more than one account of familiars taking the form of ferrets. During a witchcraft trial in 1582 Britain, testimony revealed that an accused witch kept her familiar—a being that looked like a ferret—in a cookpot. A handful of years later, in 1589, accused witch Joan Prentice, told the court a ferret had appeared to her and asked for her soul.
Another paranormal theory posits that Gef was an example of a "tulpa" or "thoughtform," a concept from Tibetan mysticism. According to this theory, Gef was a being created by the collective thoughts and emotions of the Irving family, given form and consciousness through the power of their belief.
On a hunch I looked up the name Gef to see whether it was associated with any known gods or demons, and sure enough. It’s the root of the norse goddess of farming, Gefjon. Gefn, one of the names of the goddess Freyja, a goddess of, among other things, sex. It’s interesting that, although Gef pronounced his name like the typical nickname for Jeffrey, J-E-F-F, he was very specific about how his named was spelled: G-E-F.
Astonishingly, it has been found that there were disturbances reported in the Iriving home before the appearance of Gef—and even before the Irvings moved in. Workers doing repairs to the property in 1916—the year the Irvings purchased it—had refused to sleep in the house during the days they worked there, claiming it was haunted. Local folklore concurred. Years early, an urn of black ashes had been found on the property. The workers who found it buried it in the hedgerow. Some years later, a man hunting rabbits followed what he thought was a rabbit into the hedge and found the burial site. He started pulling out the stones and earth that marked the spot and, chillingly, felt something pushing back at him from out of the earth.