When James Irving moved to a farm on the Isle of Man alongside his wife, Margaret, and youngest daughter, Viorrey, I doubt he expected his family would become haunted by a talking mongoose.
It all began on September, 13th 1931, when James claims he saw a creature run across the yard of his farm Doarlish Cashen, known as Cashen's Gap in Manx Gaelic. Shortly afterwards, the family started to hear something scratching against the wooden panelling, which lined the rooms of the farmhouse for insulation. Thinking they had a rat problem, the family placed traps within the gaps between the panelling and the stone walls of the house, but their prey eluded them. In a last attempt to scare away the pest, James tried growling at it, hoping the noise would be mistaken for a predator, instead the creature growled back. The Irvings quickly discovered that the creature could imitate any animal noise they made, until one day, it started talking and eventually introduced itself as Gef.
Once he had started talking, Gef wasn't very inclined to stop, stating that, "A mongoose can speak if he is taught." The Irvings claimed Gef spoke with a high-pitched voice, could speak multiple languages and enjoyed repeating nursery rhymes Voirrey taught him or retelling gossip he'd overheard on his jaunts around the island. Gef would often take on the role of a helpful familiar for the family; apparently bringing back small items he found and even killing over a hundred rabbits for them to sell. In return, the Irvings fed him biscuits, sweets and pieces of banana by placing them in his sanctum, which was atop a boxed-in staircase in Viorrey's bedroom.
