Harpsichord. An old form of pianoforte, so called because it was a harp encased longitudinally, and its chords were produced by the player on a key or finger board.
Harpur Street. After Sir William Harpur, Lord Mayor in 1562, the owner of a considerable estate in this neighbourhood.
Harrier. A dog specially suited for hunting the hare owing to his keen scent; also one who engages in a foot race according to the rule that each individual contestant makes for the goal by a different route.
Harringay. Expresses a neighbourhood or district abounding in hares.
Harrington Square. The property of one of the Earls of Harrington, whose daughter married the seventh Duke of Bedford.
Hart Street. Both these thoroughfares, in Bloomsbury and off Drury Lane, received their names from an adjacent inn sign, “The White Hart.”
Harum-scarum. One who is such a fright that he scares all beholders, causing them to fly from him with the swiftness of a hare.
Harvard University[University]. The foundation and endowment of the Rev. John Harvard at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1638.
Harvest Festival. This distinctly religious observance by way of thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth really originated in or grew out of the Harvest Supper which landlords were accustomed to give their tenants after the harvest had been gathered in, because what was the ancient “Lammas Day” fell into abeyance at the Reformation.
Harz Mountains. Both these mountain ranges are for the most part forest clad. Harz is Old Saxon for wood, forest.