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Halifax

.

That is, halig fax or holy hair. Its previous name was Horton. The story is that a certain clerk of Horton, being jilted, murdered his quondam sweetheart by cutting off her head, which he hung in a yew-tree. The head was looked on with reverence, and came to be regarded as a holy relic. In time it rotted away, leaving little filaments or veins spreading out between the bark and body of the tree like fine threads. These filaments were regarded as the fax or hair of the murdered maiden. (See Hull, ThreeS.)

 

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Halcyon Days
Half
Half
Half-baked
Half-deck
Half-done
Half-faced Groat (You)
Half-seas Over
Halfpenny
Halgaver
Halifax
Halifax (in Nova Scotia)
Halifax Law
Hall Mark
Hall Sunday
Hall of Odin
Hallam’s Greek
Hallel
Hallelujah
Hallelujah Lass (A)
Hallelujah Victory

See Also:

Halifax