Holy Maid of Kent. The name given to Elizabeth Barton, a poor Kentish servant girl, who, subject to trances, foretold events, and afterwards entered a convent at Canterbury. Her fame as a religious enthusiast increased, until, for pronouncing sentence against the divorce of Queen Catherine of Aragon, she, in company with five monks, was hanged at Tyburn.
Holyrood Palace. This residence of the ancient kings of Scotland grew out of the Abbey of the Holy Rood built by David I. as the permanent abode of the Black Rood, brought to Scotland by St Margaret in 1070. This precious relic was a piece of the true cross set in gold and ebony. It fell into the hands of the English at the battle of Neville’s Cross in 1344, after which all trace of it was lost. James II. was born at Holyrood; here too he was buried. The foundations of the new palace were laid by James IV. in 1500.
Holywell. From the miraculous well of St Winifred in Flintshire, the scene of her martyrdom.
Holywell Lane. Here, in Shoreditch, stood an ancient Priory of Nuns of St John the Baptist, in the grounds of which a “sweet, holy well” was discovered.
Holywell Street. This now vanished thoroughfare, east of the Strand, received its name from a Holy Well close to the Church of St Clement Danes. That in Westminster marks the site of the town house of the Grosvenors, whose rural estates lay around “Holywell” in Flintshire.
Homely. An Americanism for “plain,” “ugly;” applied to persons only.
Home Office. The official department of the Secretary for Home--i.e., internal, Affairs.
Homerton. A corruption of “Heimathton,” which expressed the town that grew out of the Saxon village styled Heimath, “home” or “native country.”
Honduras. Spanish for “deep water.”
Honey Lane. In this lane stood an ancient market-house or hall for the sale of honey. Owing to the dearness of sugar prior to the discovery of America and the colonisation of the West Indies, honey was in general request.