Hue And Cry

In old English law. A pursuit of one who had committed felony, by the highway. The meaning of "hue" is said to be "shout," from the Saxon huer; but this word also means "to foot," and it may be reasonably questioned whether the term may not be "up foot and cry"; in other words, run and cry after the felon. We have a mention of hue and cry as early as Edward I.; and by the Statute of Winchester (13 Edw. I.), "immediately upon robberies and felonies committed, fresh suit shall be made from town to town, and county to county, by horsemen and footmen, to the seaside. The constable (the person being described, etc.) is to call upon the parishioners to assist him in the pursuit in his precinct, and to give notice to the next constable, who is to do the same as the first, etc. If the county will not answer the bodies of the offenders, the whole hundred shall be answerable for the robberies there commitconviction, entitled to forty pounds, on a certificate of the judge or justice before whom there was conviction, as well as to the felon's horse, furniture, arms, money, and other goods taken with him, subject to the rights of other persons therein. Wood, Inst. 370-373. See 2 Hale, P. C. 100.

A pursuit of one who had committed felony, by the highway. The meaning of hue is said to be shout, from the Saxon huer; but this word also means to foot, and it may be reasonably questioned whether the term may not be up foot and cry, in other words, run and cry after the felon. We have a mention of hue and cry as early as Edward I.; and by the Statute of Winchester, 13 Edw. 1., “immediately upon robberies and felonies committed, fresh suit shall be made from town to town, and county to county, by horsemen and footmen, to the seaside. The constable (the person being described, etc.) Is to call upon the parishioners to assist him in the pursuit in his precinct; and to give notice to the next constable, who is to do the same as the first, etc. If the county will not answer the bodies of the offenders, the whole hundred shall be answerable for the robberies there committed, etc.’* A person engaged in the hue and cry apprehending a felon was, on the felon’s conviction, entitled to forty pounds, on a certificate of the Judge or justice before whom there was conviction, as well as to the felon’s horse, furniture, arms, money, and other goods taken with him, subject to the rights of other persons therein; Wood, Inst. 370. See 2 Hale, PI. Cr. 100. The person who has lost his property must raise the hue and cry. All who refused to assist were liable. When the owner found his property he could seize and claim it. The person in whose possession it was found must either give it and pay a fine or appear before the court. If the property was found by Ihe following of the hue and cry, he could claim it at once; 2 Holdsw. Hist. E. L. 99. From the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries summons and warrants took the place of hue and cry, which practically fell into disuse. Where one ran from his place of business to join the hue and cry and shot the fugi- HUEBRA* In Spanish Law. An acre of land, or as much as can be ploughed in a day by two oxen. 2 White, Recop. 49.

In English law. A loud outcry anciently pursued, and in which all who until the malefactor was taken; a written escape of a felon from prison, requiring taking him.

In old English law. A loud outery with which felons (such as robbers, burglars, and murderers) were anciently pursued, and which all who heard it were bound to take up, and join in the pursuit, until the malefactor was taken, Iract. fols. 115d, 124; 4 Bl. Comm. 293. A written proclamation issued on the escape of a felon from prison, requiring all

The alarm, and pursuit of a felon, in which all were bound to join.

Eng. law. A mode of pursuing felons, or such as have dangerously wounded any person, or assaulted any one with intent to rob him, by the constable, for the purpose of arresting the offender. 2 Hale, P. C. 100.