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When one person or a group or people raise a HUE AND CRY, it usually refers to an unusually loud disturbance, whether done deliberately or in all innocence.

The expression has an interesting origin in the practice of utilizing special cries when hunters would pursue various types of wild game. From a distance, a third party could discern what the intended quarry was, given the special cry used in the chase. Later on, medieval lawmen, who probably never heard of human rights, took great sport in hunting down their human quarry (usually suspected or real criminals) like they would wild game. A hue and cry would be raised, and the chase would commence, with the sheriff, his men, and hounds engaging in a literal manhunt. Every law-abiding citizen was expected to drop whatever he or she was doing and participate in the chase.

As we mentioned earlier, human rights were not quite respected, and a person was considered guilty even before trial. Therefore, it was not surprising to find many a suspect taking a chance in escaping rather than have to face a sham trial.