Where did they come from? Click here to read “What is myotonia”
That is by far the most common asked question and the answer may forever remain one of life's true mysteries. Before the early 1880's this breed has no history. It's almost like they magically appeared.
Sometime during the early 1880's a stranger, John Tinsley, appeared at the home of J. M. Porter in TN. He carried nothing with him but the clothes on his back and a few animals. These animals included a sacred cow (Zebu?) and four goats. It was assumed, by his dress, he came from Nova Scotia or somewhere within that region. He was also said to have worn two hats with the possibility of the smaller one being a fez.
Mr. Porter invited the man to stay and he did so for several months. During the duration of his stay the Porters were never able to find out exactly where the man had came from and many things about him mystified them. It's said the thing that impressed them the most, was not the man, but his goats. This was because the goats had strange fits which looked like fainting spells that neither they nor anyone else in their area had seen before. One day, during Tinsleys stay at the Porters, Dr. H. H. Mayberry, a neighbor of the Porters, witnessed one of these incredible attacks. He then offered the man $36 for his goats. The man refused to even consider selling them but assured Mr. Mayberry that if he ever decided to part with them he'd let Mr. Mayberry know.
About a month later Tinsley, his cow, and his goats appeared at the home of Mr. Mayberry. Tinsley said he would sell his goats and Mr. Mayberry paid for them. He settled down at the home of Mr. Mayberry and was put to work on his farm. It's said that not once did he eat at his table and he always took his meals to the barn where his sacred cow was kept.
After about three weeks the man and his sacred cow left and went to Lick Creek in Maury County TN. Once there he promptly married an older lady by the name of Barnhill. That summer he raised an excellent crop of corn on her farm. One night, shortly after the crop was in, and without warning to his wife, he left with his sacred cow. He was never heard from again and seemingly vanished as strangely as he appeared.
Mr. Mayberry raised a number of goats from those he purchased from Tinsley. He sold them in various parts of KY and TN. It's almost certain that the goats which were raised and sold by Mr. Mayberry were the propagators of all such goats in the entire country. If one believes in magic the entire breed originated from four goats. All of these goats were brought by a stranger, who no one ever really knew, and at the time his goats seemed to be as baffling as he was.
Early articles and studies about goats with myotonia are few and far between. The first description of the breed was made in an article in 1904 by George R. White and Joseph Plaskett. They kept a pair, which were acquired from a farm in Maury County TN, under observation for roughly six months at the Nashville Veterinary Hospital. At that time they estimated no more than 100 of these goats existed and thought they represented a new breed. They gave excellent descriptions of goats displaying myotonia and were even able to observe a kid, which was born while the goats were under their care, have an attack of rigidity within three hours after birth.
A brief not was published in 1908 by H. Dexler, who became interested in the article by White and Plaskett. After correspondence with some owners of myotonic goats he stated that a farmer had imported a myotonic goat from Canada. This led him to believe that the goats were not entirely a local animal. Nothing more ever became of this brief note.
In 1916 J. J. Hooper also published a brief note. In it he stated that experiments were being undertaken to study this unique behavior. Apparently and unfortunately the experiments were interrupted before any observations were made.
The next publication of myotonic goats did not appear till 1930 when J. L. Lush described their history and the behavior of a flock in TX. This Texas flock was brought there to uphold the stories of a Texas farmer who's boyhood home was in Tennessee.
In 1931 National Geographic magazine published an article on Alabama and included an account of some nervous goats owned by R. J. Goode. It was stated that he had bred them for twelve years or more.
After 1933 the symptoms seen in myotonic goats were linked to symptoms seen in humans. Several, though sparse, studies have been done since that time on the relationship of myotonia and how it compares to symptoms seen in man. Myotonia in man is referred to as Thomsen's disease.
The information on this page is from www.faintinggoatheaven.com
