h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A couple of points from the Isle of Man :

The Phantom Hound of the Isle of Man was said to haunt the ancient castle at Peel on the west coast.

The hound is known locally as the "Moddey Dhoo", Manx Gaelic for "Black Dog", which is pronounced "Mauther Thoo" by Manx speakers, and "Moddy doo" by those who haven't heard the story first hand and have only read it somewhere. The name "Mauthe Doog" is not used on the Island - a corruption of the Gaelic name perhaps ?

As the story goes, a watch was kept on the castle gate from the dark little guardroom nearby. Every night, a strange black dog would creep into the guardroom, and lay by the fire until it crept out down the tunnel before dawn. There was something sinister and unearthly about this dog, and the guards were petrified of it.

A guard was determined to put his fellows to shame, and full of bravado, he declared that he was not afraid of it, and would follow it from the guardroom the next night.

He did so, creeping down the dark corridor behind the beast. The rest of the terrified guard were soon roused by his horrified screams. He was said to have died of fright three days later, unable to utter a word about his terrifying ordeal. The dog was not seen again.

Peel Castle and the guardroom are still there and can be visited, though you have to visit the dank little guardroom at night to understand what nightmares the shadows conjure.

Not far from Peel is the village of Dalby, where a strange series of events began in 1931, surrounding the Irving family. What some would identify as poltergeist activity began to disturb the household, with strange voices, and a curious presence that identified itself as "Gef", and discribed itself as a mongoose.

Some semi-serious investigation followed by Ghost-hunters and journalists, with bits of dubious evidence being produced. The family began to enjoy the attention and occasional money that the case produced, and many observers have suggested that the family quickly became caught up in a masquerade.

Certainly the focus of Gef's activity seemed to be focused on the Irving's daughter Voirrey, and it has been suggested that she may have used ventriloquism to break the monotony of the lonely farm life, and become caught up in a circus once curious journalists and tourists became involved.

Eventually, interest waned and the Irvings moved from the farm. No more was heard from Gef, but an unsubstantiated story from a later owner of the farm says that he shot a curious mongoose-like creature on the property some time later - a misidentified polecat, or a rabbit-hunting feral mongoose, or was Gef still haunting the farm ?