a custom of ancient origin for spreading an alarm. When a cry was raised by one it was caught by a second, and passed by him to a third till the whole country was roused. It was thus the ancient Britons summoned their warriors to battle. Amongst the Highlanders a half-burnt stick, dipped in the blood of a goat slain by the chieftain himself, was carried by the messenger as a threat of fire and sword to all who did not obey the summons. In 1745 this cross tarric, or fiery cross, was carried 32 miles in three hours. Cesar speaks of a case in which an alarm was carried 160 miles in sixteen or seventeen hours.

The hue and cry (potestium et clamor) is also a legal method of procuring arrests. By 13th Edw. I, c. 3, the hundred in which the offence was committed was held responsible unless the felon was caught; by 27th Eliz., c. 13, the hue and cry required to be made by both horsemen and footmen; and by 8th Geo. II, c. 16, the officer neglecting or refusing to make the hue and cry is liable to a penalty of L5. When the hue and cry is raised, all parties are obliged to join in pursuit of the criminal. A printed hue and cry is issued three times a week at Bow Street, and contains descriptions of stolen property and deserters.