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"Later on in the course of man's development he would use antlers as knives, arrow heads as well as pick axes and jewelers then, somewhere along the line, he discovered that, by heating horn from cattle and sheep, he could mould it and from there on in there was no looking back - well not much anyway!"

"It was also discovered that horn could be de-laminated and, having done that, the thin pieces were found to be clear-ish, at least clear enough to almost see through, so these were used to make the 'glass' for lanterns (or more properly 'lant-horns'. This thin horn was also used for filling in the holes in the sides of their houses - not exactly double glazing but better than cold air! In fact the invention of mass- production techniques for glass almost scuppered the horners business back in the 16th century- apparently some of the small panes of glass inside the Guildhall in London are still of original horn."

"Certainly horn working has had its ups and downs over the centuries much like any other kind of business but, over the years, horners have made book pages , walking sticks, shoe lifts ( or more properly shoe horns), window panes, lantern panes, spoons, knife handles, sword and dagger handles, tobacco jars, hunting horns, powder horns, drinking horns, snuff mulls, ink wells, cupping horns (medical), bow ends for longbowmen as well as needlework tools, lacemaking tools, condiment holders and combs - to mention but a few items from their range."

http://speyside-horn.co.uk/history.htm