Fig. 388. Honiton Guipure.
Honiton Guipure. Lace was made in Devonshire, as well as in other parts of England, of silk and coarse thread until 1567, when the fine thread now used was introduced, it is said, by Flemings, who had escaped from the persecutions of the Duke of Alva. (See Old Devonshire.) Honiton lace owes its great reputation to the sprigs made separately on a pillow, and afterwards either worked in with the beautiful pillow net or sewn on it. This net was made of the finest thread from Antwerp, the price of which in 1790 was 70l. per pound. (See Mechlin Lace, 18th century.) Heathcoat’s invention, however, dealt a fatal blow to the trade of the net-makers, and since then Honiton lace is usually made by uniting the sprigs on a pillow, or joining them with a needle by various stitches, as shown in the engraving.
Honour, Legion of. Instituted 3rd June, 1802, by Napoleon I. as first consul.
Hoodman-blind. Old English for Blindman’s Buff (q.v.).
Hoods (A.S. Hod) were probably introduced by the Normans. They are constantly represented, with great variation of fashion, in illustrations of the 11th to 18th century, as a part of the costume of both sexes. They were finally displaced by caps and bonnets in the reign of George II. (See Chaperon, Cowl.)
Hoops, in ladies’ dress, were introduced in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, displacing the FARTHINGALE; and were finally abandoned in that of George III.
Hop-harlot, O. E. A very coarse coverlet for beds.
Horatia Pila, R. A pillar erected at the west extremity of the Roman forum to receive the trophy of the spoils of the three Curiatii brought back by Horatius.
Horns. A portion of a lady’s head-dress, mentioned in the 13th century. They appear to have been formed by the foldings of the gorget or wimple, and a disposition of the hair on each side of the head into the form of rams’ horns. For the horned head-dress of the 15th century, see the illustration to Coronet.
Horologium. (1) Sundials preceded all other instruments for the measurement of time. The gnomon or stocheion of the Greeks was a perpendicular staff or pillar, the shadow of which fell upon a properly marked ground; the polos or heliotropion consisted of a perpendicular staff, in a basin in which the twelve parts of the day were marked by lines. (2) The clepsydra was a hollow globe, with a short neck, and holes in the bottom; it measured time by the escape of water, and was at first used like an hour-glass to regulate the length of speeches in the Athenian courts. The escape of water was stopped by inserting a stopper in the mouth, when the speaker was interrupted. Smaller clepsydrata made of glass and marked with the hours were used in families. A precisely similar history applies to the horologia of Rome.