In the early 1930’s, a very odd story emerged from the Isle of Man, a small island located in the Irish Sea between Britain and Ireland. A man called James Irving had reported to his friends that an unusual animal similar to a weasel had taken up residence on his farm. Although the scratching sounds and other weird noises were relatively explainable, what was remarkable in this instance was that, according to Irving, this creature could talk, and perform a range of unusual feats.
It would eventually come to be known as Gef, who identified himself as a mongoose who had been born in 1852 in Delhi, India. His activities with the Irving family over the next few years after would baffle and intrigue a variety of interested parties, including Harry Price, perhaps the most famous investigator of the paranormal in Britain at the time.
Despite this interest, a satisfying conclusion to the mystery was never reached, yet the case of the ‘Dalby Spook’ still fascinates people all these years later, including my guest for this episode, Christoper Josiffe, who in 2017 released his book Gef! The Strange Tale of an Extra-Special Talking Mongoose, a brilliantly researched and definitive account of this case.
I’ve been fascinated by the story of Gef for many years and it was a real pleasure to get Christopher onto the podcast to talk all about him.
For more information on Christopher's book and to purchase it, please visit https://gefmongoose.co.uk/book/.
The Some Other Sphere is from https://www.purple-planet.com/
'Hubbub' by Chris Martin/Geoff Harvey
Episode 98 - Emma Heard - Weird Wiltshire
Episode 97 - Gregory Forth - Between Ape and Human
Episode 96 - Patrick Harpur - Daimonic Reality
Episode 95 - Jeremy Harte - The Devil in the English Landscape
Episode 94 - George Popov - Filmmaking and the Paranormal
Episode 93 - Vuk (Tracing Owls Podcast) - Gaia Theory
Episode 92 - Sarah Janes - Initiation into Dream Mysteries
Episode 91 - Dr Liz Savage - A Beginner’s Guide to Dickensian Cryptozoology
Episode 90 - David Booher - The Gerry Irwin Story
Episode 89 - Duncan Barford - Magick, Psychology and the Paranormal
Episode 88 - Michele Eve - Spiritualism, Mediumship and Ghostly Gloucestershire
Episode 87 - Ailsa Clarke & Bethan Briggs-Miller - Eerie Essex
Episode 86 - Emma Woods - Glimpses of Magonia
Episode 85 - Jo Hickey-Hall - Modern Fairy Sightings
Episode 84 - The Reverend Peter Laws - Horror Movies, Religion and the Supernatural
Episode 83 - Morgan Knudsen - Embracing the Unknown and The Gift of Instinct
Episode 82 - Melissa Seims - The Coven of Atho
Episode 81 - Evelyn Hollow - The Psychology of the Paranormal
Episode 80 - Bex Atwood - The Liminal Spirit Oracle
Episode 79 - Travis Watson - Mysteries in the Mist
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Just Dumb Enough Podcast
Voices of Misery Podcast
House of Whimsical Terror
Stuff You Should Know
Timcast IRL