Gef
The Evidence for Gef: Pt 1
Gef's Voice
Gef was seldom seen but often heard. While he refused to talk to Harry Price or Nandor Fodor, he did favour some of the Irving's other visitors with a few choice remarks. A reporter from the Manchester Daily Dispatch who heard Gef speak wrote that the experience left him "in a state of considerable perplexity":
"Had I heard a weasel speak? I do not know, but I do know that I have heard today a voice that I should never have imagined could issue from a human throat."
A friend of the family known as Charles Northwood (a pseudonym) also heard Gef speak. Gef took an instant dislike to him, at first refusing to talk at all and then yelling derisively, "Charlie my old sport... Clear to the devil if you don't believe!" Later, Gef addressed him again:
"From behind the boards in the sitting room, possibly some 25-30 feet away, I heard a very loud voice penetrating, and with some malice in it. 'You don't believe! You are a doubter!' This was very startling, and for the first time put a bit of a shiver through me. I said, 'I do believe'. I had to shout this."
Northwood was sufficiently impressed by what he heard to conclude that Gef was indeed "some extraordinary animal which has developed the power of speech". However, J. Radcliffe - a reporter from the Isle of Man Examiner - reached a rather different conclusion after hearing Gef's voice.
Radcliffe had visited Cashen's Gap with a group of friends, hoping to hear the imfamous mongoose talk. Gef remained stubbornly silent until the group was on the point of leaving. Then:
"Suddenly there was a shrill squeak from the corner of the room where Voirrey, the daughter, was sitting. Mr Irving, in great excitement, gripped my arm and pointing to the opposite side of the room, whispered: 'He's there! Did you hear him?'"
"Evans and I gazed at each other in sheer amazement... We were again conducted to the door and the squeaks at intermittent intervals continued. Each squeak was kindly translated by Mr Irving to mean: 'They don't believe' or 'I want to back a horse', etc. The squeak in every case was of a particularly short duration"
"On our way down, I noticed Voirrey had a tendency to hang behind, and once again we heard a piping squeak with Mr Irving again wildly gesticulating and pointing to the hedge and whispering: 'He's there, I tell you. He's there!'"
"This was really too much, for my hearing is very good, and the squeak without doubt was human and came from immediately behind us. We laughed over the whole incident for days, because it was so badly done that it was extremely funny."
While Voirrey may well have been cheating on that particular occasion, it is worth bearing in mind Nador Fodor's comments on 'fraudulent' poltergeists:
"Often, supposed Poltergeists are caught in the act of perpetrating a fraud. Then, scientists are apt to say 'I told you so' and ridicule the whole phenomenon."
"But it must be remembered that when you deal with Poltergeists you deal with unbalanced personalities. Once notoriety has been secured for the person around whom the disturbances occur, he is tempted to fake the manifestations after they have stopped in order to hold the centre of the stage."