THE TARVES BEASTIE A FORGOTTEN GEF?

MICHAEL COX explores a neglected case that has many striking similarities with the contemporaneous but better known story of the ‘Dalby Spook’, now remembered as ‘Gef the Talking Mongoose’, and asks: Was this Gef’s forgotten Scottish cousin?

The case of Gef the talking mongoose is typically considered sui generis in the annals of forteana, with elements suggestive of a poltergeist infestation, folie à deux, or simply the presence of a self-described “extra clever” animal; and yet, taken in total, the facts resist any such neat categorisation. In Christopher Josiffe’s excellent and exhaustive Gef! The Strange Tale of an Extra-Special Talking Mongoose, the author surveys a selection of happenings with similarities to the ‘Dalby Spook’, considering parallels with particular polts, tulpas and creatures from folklore. Yet left unmentioned is one little-known case that arguably has more in common with that Isle of Man mystery than any other, and even occurred contemporaneously with it: I refer to the largely forgotten case of the ‘Tarves Beastie’. ACCOUNT OF THE CASE…

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Fortean Times (Digital) - 1 Issue, 453

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