tldr: Back in 1981, one SFLer desperately wanted a unicorn-goat hybrid to be real.
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Date: 6 Apr 1981 09:28 PST
From: Chapman.ES at PARC-MAXC
Subject: The Evolution of Unicorns
With regard to doing research about Unicorns. . .a couple of
acquaintances of mine in the Berkeley area have done extensive
research on this subject. They came to realize that until the period
of the Renaissance, the Unicorn was pictured as a goat with one horn,
which only later turned into a horse with a horn. They reasoned that a
one-horned goat was much more likely to have been real, since goats do
have horns naturally. They then set out on a careful breeding plan,
and about two years ago, the first real, live unicorn was born on
their ranch, and named Lancelot. Please do not take me for a kook. I
was very scepticle myself, but I saw and touched and played with
Lancelot at the Fantasy Worlds Convention held in Berkeley February of
this year. It seems that there may be something besides just genetics
involved, although that helps. When I asked Morning Glory, she said
something akin to Bonsai was also involved but would go no further
since their lawyer is trying to patent the process.
The point of this experiment which worked is that Unicorns, although
now considered mythical, really existed. They were, perhaps, sports,
probably rare. But they have a reputation for being smarter than
others of their breed, and fiercer. Historically, mythically, they
were used as herd leaders, because they were better as defending the
group than their more normal counterparts. Several half-brothers and
half-sisters of Lancelot are expected to be born this spring, and the
people who are working with these unusual creatures will be starting
to show them around at some limited Science Fiction/Fantasy events. If
you are interested, I will try to dig up the address for writing for
more info. Please respond to me directly; if interest is high, I will
send the info to SF-LOVERS.
Cheryl
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Date: 6 Apr 81 12:11:24-PDT
From: mclure at Sri-Unix
Subject: concerning 'unicorns'
I, too, have seen this thing... at a local SF convention, and on t.v.
in the Bay Area. However, it seems more like a simple case of a couple
of charlatans (one named Morninglory, no less) pulling the wool over
people's eyes. It is unfortunate that they can sell so many doo-dads
and knick-knacks to naive people.
[ Lancelot has been mentioned in the digest before in issue 66 of
this volume, Friday, March 13. It was in connection with the
San Jose Convention that was held at that time. - Jim ]
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Date: 7 Apr 1981 08:09 PST
From: Chapman.ES at PARC-MAXC
Subject: Re: The Living Unicorn
I take exception to your slur upon Morning Glory and her husband, and
your suggestion that they are charlatans. These are sincere people,
who are into mysticism, it is true, but just because you don't agree
with their world view doesn't mean you have to insult them. The things
they sell help support their research and are at least partly driven
by the desire of other people to own mementos of this unusual
creature. (When Lancelot appeared at the Fantasy Worlds Festival,
Morning Glory had to apologize for his appearance. Someone has snuck
into his pen and cut off huge hunks of his coat, apparently hoping to
capitalize on the souvenir value this has attained. Morning Glory and
her husband were appalled. It had never occurred to them that they
were going to have to protect Lancelot from this sort of thing,
because they are hardly aware that such people exist. Yes, they
themselves are somewhat naive.) They are not charlatans ("one who
claims to possess knowledge or skill that he does not have," American
Heritage Dictionary). They do know how to create Unicorns, and are the
only people in thousands of years who have bothered to figure out how
to do this.
As I said before, I have played with Lancelot, touched him, examined
his horn. It is a real, single horn, emanating from the center of his
head. It does have a slight depression in the vertical direction,
approximately where you would imagine two horns that had been bound
together would meet (remember that Morning Glory said something akin
to Bonsai was also involved), but the horn is a single, integral unit,
not two separate horns growing very close together. The animal is
real, and similar animals probably were real thousands of years ago.
Whether they had any of the mystical powers attributed to them is
mote. Unicorns are not myths.
Cheryl
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Date: 8 APR 1981 0832-EST
From: Marty c/o procep at MIT-AI
Subject: Unicorns and evolution
The unicorn obviously died out due to the attraction the males of the
species had for human females, which led them to neglect their female
counterparts of the unicorn species. Not to mention that impregnating
with a horn is often fatal, and therefore not a survival trait.
Marty
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Date: 9 APR 1981 1039-PST
From: RODOF at USC-ECL
Subject: Unicorn making
I'm not sure this is how they did it, but I'd like to contribute
this little personal experience.
When I was somewhat younger, it was finally decided that I should
have braces. Since I wanted the things off before I went to college,
the orthodontist agreed to do a somewhat accelerated job, and finish
the job in a year, although I was warned that it would hurt more. It
did. My teeth were moved by the simple process of pulling or pushing
on them until they were in the right place. The orthodontist
explained that by exerting a steady force on the tooth in one
direction, the jawbone on the leading side dissolved, and bone
reformed on the trailing side. Apparently a very natural biological
process.
I'm not saying that a goat's horn is a tooth, but there's a good
chance that the structures are similar enough to work. One horn was
probably removed (a common procedure on farms) and the other horn
slowly dragged over by some sort of harness. I'd doubt very much that
it is two horns grown together, as I believe only the root and a small
central core of the horn is alive, and it would be difficult to make
them meld. (any of your teeth joined together?) Goat horns do have
natural ridges (always reminded me of the blood runnels in a sword)
and, from what I've seen of the critter on TV, it was probably filed a
bit to shape.
Lancelot is awfully cute, but since MY personal image of the
Unicorn was always something grand, majestic, and powerfully
uncontained, I'll put off my souvenir purchase till the horse version
comes along.
Rodof
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Date: 10 Apr 1981 1539-PST
From: OR.TOVEY at SU-SCORE
Subject: making unicorns
You \can/ make a unicorn by removing one horn and
transplanting the other to the center of the forehead; this has been
done before. I don't know whether this is how Lancelot got to be a
unicorn or not. His owners now claim otherwise (I may have been wrong
in saying that they didn't before); they say that he is a true
mutation and will breed true. --cat
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Date: 10 April 1981 04:31-EST
From: Neal Feinberg <NEAL at MIT-MC>
Subject: The Evolution of Unicorns
Howdy!
I would be very interested in the address of these people.
--Chiron
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Date: 5 May 1981 14:58 edt From: JRDavis.LOGO at MIT-Multics Subject:
Lancelot the Uni-Goat
From the Boston Globe, Tuesday May 5 1981 page 5
FACT, A FREAK, OR FAKE, HE'S PULLING A CROWD
Associated Press
Redwood City, CA - Though at least one professor doesn't believe it, two
Californians say the one-horned, cracker-eating goat they've bred
according to an "ancient secret" is a real, live unicorn.
Lancelot, a shaggy 1-year-old Angora goat, has one 10-inch horn growing
from the middle of his forehead, just like the creature of mythology.
"A 4000 -year-old legend," says one of the breeders, who calls herself
Morning Glory. She and her husband, called Otter G'Zelle, claim to have
carefully bred the creature on their remote Mendocino County spread
after discovering a secret formula.
But Dr. Perry Cupps, a University of California animal science
professor, believes Lancelot is just a freak of nature, not a unicorn.
Cupps, who said that such abnormalities happened rarely, laughed at the
notion that breeders could make the central horn appear consistently.
"Remember that famous ... fellow who said a sucker is born every
minute?" he asked.
Freak, fake or fact, Lancelot is drawing admiring crowds of paying
curiosity seekers at Marine World, a combination zoo, aquarium, and
amusement park about 20 miles south of San Francisco.
The unicorn of ancient legend was generally part horse, part stag, and
part lion, with its horn considered to have magical powers as an
antidote to poison. The creature is found woven into tapestry and
painted on shields.
Lancelot, for his part, is fond of oyster crackers and has been trainded
to heel, walk on a leash, jump through a hoop, bow, and lie
down on command.
Lancelot is produced from Angoran goat stock, but that's as far as the
naturalists will go in describing the process that created him.
"We quite literally stumbled across an ancient secret," Glory said,
adding that when the process has been patented, they will release it to
a scientific journal.
But Cupps says that the single horn in the middle of Lancelot's
forehead, which could grow to 2 1/2 feet, is a freak occurrence similar
to the development of a cyclops - a one-eyed being.
"The tissue that forms the eye starts to form in the center, then
migrates away from the center. The horn does the same thing," he said.
"If something happens so the animal doesn't develop normally, then you'd
get a central one."
But Glory says, " We have a responsibility as scientists, romanticists,
and idealists to (protect) a 4000-year-old legend."
"Lancelot is quite a remarkable animal. If he were human, you might say
he was a superman," she says.
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Date: 04 May 1981 1740-PDT From: Jim McGrath <JPM at SU-AI> Subject:
Naturalists Turn Fantasy Into Reality
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) - Lancelot, a year-old Angora goat, sports
a solitary 10-inch horn in the middle of his forehead. His owners claim
they bred him using an ancient secret for unicorns, but an animal
science professor says the horn is just a rare abnormality.
However Lancelot came by his horn, he is proving a popular
attraction at Marine World, a combination aquatic park, zoo and
amusement park about 20 miles south of San Francisco. Sightseers crowd
around his pen to gawk, snap pictures, and touch the fearsome horn that
may grow to 2 1/2 feet.
''There's a lot of people who say it's a hoax, that he's just a
one-horned goat, a freak, a fluke of nature,'' said Morning Glory, a
naturalist who claims to have bred Lancelot with her husband, Otter
G'zelle on their home in rural Mendocino County.
''To that we say, meet Lancelot and decide for yourselves,'' she
added. ''Lance is the message that wonder and beauty and hope are
available, and if you work hard enough, you can have them.''
Lancelot, who has a shaggy white mane and cloven hooves, was
produced from Angora goats, which normally have two horns, but that's as
far as the naturalists will go in describing the process that spawned
him. The unicorn of ancient legend - as depicted in stories and on
tapestries - was generally part-horse, part-stag and part-lion, and its
horn was considered to have magical powers as an antidote to poison.
''We quite literally stumbled across an ancient secret,'' Morning
Glory said, adding that when the process has been patented, they will
release it to a scientific journal.
''We have a responsibility as scientists, romanticists and
But Dr. Perry Cupps, an animal science professor at the University
of California at Davis, who saw Lancelot on television, considers him a
''congenital anomaly'' similar to the legendary one-eyedcyclops.
''The tissue that forms the eye starts to form in the center, then
migrates away from the center. The horn does the same thing,'' he said.
''If something happens so the animal doesn't develop normally, then
you'd get a central one.''
Cupps said such an abnormality was rare and laughed at the notion
that breeders could make it appear consistently. ''Remember that famous
fellow who said a sucker is born every minute?'' he added.
Sue Watkins, the 21-year-old Marine World animal handler who trained
Lancelot, said he is a frisky, intelligent beast who likes to sit on the
couch and munch oyster crackers.
''He loves to be in the crowd. Whenever there are lots of people
around, and something's happening, he wants to be there,'' said Ms.
Watkins, who taught Lance everything he knows.
''He's leash-trained, he can heel, lie down when you tell him to,
come to you when you want him to, jump through a hoop, take a bow, rise
up on his hind legs,'' she said.
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Fun factoids:
The Morning Glory and her husband mentioned in the above posts are Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart & Oberon Zell-Ravenheart. Besides patenting a goat-horn surgery process, https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pdfs/US4429685.pdf , Morning Glory & her husband created a church of Neo-Paganism, and established an actual school of Wizardry, which can be found at https://www.greyschool.net/
