Gef - Isle of Man

Nouvelles, opinions et incontournables locaux

ABOUT GEF THE MONGOOSE

In the early 1930’s on the Isle of Man, an extraordinary event occurred. Something which would place the Isle of Man on world maps forever. Gef the Talking Mongoose emerged.

Voirrey Irving, an intelligent and seemingly bored young Manxy, was the 13-year-old daughter of Dalby family residents the Irving’s. Minding her own business one morning, she heard scratches and noises coming from the farmhouse’s walls. Unbeknown to her, it was Gef.

An extra, extra clever creature, an earth-bound spirit and a ghost in the form of an animal, he revealed himself to the family as a mongoose born in New Delhi, India, 1852. We’re not sure why or how he ended up on our small rock, but we’re flippin’ glad he did.

Gef didn’t live by the ‘Traa dy Liooar’ mentality, he regularly roamed the island riding on the back-axles of buses and cars, he would nip to the local markets, share saucy gossip about the neighbours and read aloud boring items from the local newspaper like a proper yessir.

Weirdly he lived in Voirrey’s bedroom, dubbed ‘Gef’s Sanctum’. But only Voirrey could look at him directly mind.

As our beloved Gef once said,

Gef the talking mongoose's farmhouse.jpg

“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 STONE OR A PILLAR OF SALT!”

Yeah. Bonkers.

Over years, Gef became a legend. Journalists flocked to the isle with the sole purpose of catching a glimpse of our Gef. People have even written books and someone has even composed a bloody song about him.

Is he real? Is he a figure of imagination? We’ll let you decided that. But we salute Voirrey’s creativity and confidence. In the boredom of her Dalby cottage she concocted a fascinating and hilarious story, ruffling some feathers along the way. And it sounds like she had a great time doing it!

Our incarnation of Gef The Mongoose is homage to everyone on the Isle of Man ruffling feathers doing innovative and interesting stuff. Making their own fun and fun for others.

The Isle of Man is already great. Weird and wonderful. Let’s celebrate it.