14/10/2026
Well it’s been a very busy Wednesday this week at Birkenhead Priory and it’s also time for us to present the THIRD of our weekly series of WYRD AND WONDERFUL WORDS from Birkenhead Priory.
This week’s expression is ‘HUE AND CRY’, (No, NOT the 1980’s Scottish pop duo). ‘Hue and Cry’ was an early English legal practice of pursuing a criminal with horns, cries and sounds of alarm.
It was the duty of any person wronged or discovering a felony to raise the ‘hue and cry’ and his neighbours were bound to come and assist him in the pursuit and capture of the offender. All those joining in the pursuit were justified in arresting the person pursued even if he was actually innocent. If the criminal bore obvious evidence of guilt on his person and if he resisted capture, he could be killed on the spot. If he submitted to capture, his fate was decided by due process. If the community did not respond to the ‘hue and cry’ they were deemed as guilty as the offender and could be prosecuted.
In circumstances where there was not enough evidence to prove a person’s guilt, the accused could be subject to a Trial by Ordeal. This was a way of testing whether the accused was innocent or guilty in the eyes of God. These trials could include hot irons, hot water or cold water.
Trial by Ordeal was abolished during the 13th century thankfully. The Norman’s also introduced Trial by Combat. This was sometimes used to settle disputes over large sums of money or land. The two people involved would fight using swords or large sticks. They fought to the death or until one gave in - whoever gave in was later put to death. (You dare not give in!).
FYI: “Hue” comes from an Old French word meaning “noise” or “outcry”. The word “cry” comes from the synonymous Anglo-French “cri” . Contemporary usage of this phrase refers more often to general alarm, complaint, or protest.
By Samantha Higgins
Image below is entitled ‘Raising a hue and cry’ by Stephen Liddell.
