HUN 



376 



HUN 



Hunting, cruel and hateful pastime. Men familiarised with the 

 Hunting- torture of animals, whose flesh is needlessly torn from 

 " *heir bones, will soon behold with indifference the pain 

 of their fellow creatures. See Chasse au fusil. William, 

 son's Field Sports of the East. Daniel's Rural Sports. 

 Beckford On Fox and Hare Hunting. Sportsman's Dic- 

 tionary. La Chasse Eneydop. Method. Krascheninikow's 

 History of Kamtschatka. Meare's Voyage. Lisianky's 

 Voyage. Krusenstern's Voyage. Hearne's Journey. Cart- 

 Wright's Journal. See BEAVER, BEAU, and ELEPHANT, 

 for an account of the method of hunting these animals, (c) 

 HUNTINGDON, is a town of England, and the 

 principal town in Huntingdonshire. It is situated on 

 a gently rising ground on the northern side of the river 

 Ouse. It consists principally of one street, stretching 

 in a north-west direction from the Ouse to nearly a 

 mile from it, with several lanes branching off at right 

 angles. The houses, which are built of brick, are gen- 

 teel and commodious, and the streets are well paved 

 and lighted. The town is nearly connected, by a cause- 

 way and three bridges, with the village of Godman- 

 ch ester. 



The principal public buildings and establishments 

 are St Mary's church, All Saints church, and the town- 

 hall. St Mary's, which is the corporation church, was 

 rebuilt between the years 1600 and 1620. It has an 

 elegant embattled tower at the west end, with nave, 

 chancel, and aisles. All Saints church stands on the 

 north of the market-place, and appears to have been 

 built in the time of Henry VII. It is an embattled edi- 

 fice, with nave, chancel, and aisles, and a small tower 

 at the north-west angle. The town-hall, which stands 

 on the south side of the market-place, is a good modern 

 brick building, with a piazza at the front and sides, and 

 butchers' shambles behind. In the lower part of the 

 building are the civil and criminal courts, where the as- 

 sizes are held. Above is a spacious assembly-room, a- 

 dorned with the portraits of George II. and III. and 

 their respective Queens, and of Lord Sandwich, who 

 died in April 1792. The Free Grammar School is well 

 endowed, and well conducted. There is also a green- 

 coat school, called Walden's Charity, where 24 poor 

 boys are clothed and educated. The county gaol, which 

 stands at one end of the town, has recently been re- 

 paired and rendered more commodious. There are two 

 places of worship here belonging to the dissenters, one 

 for the Quakers, and the other for the sect patronised 

 by the Countess of Huntingdon. 



As Huntingdon is situated on the great north road, 

 it has several good inns. The brewing trade is carried 

 on here, though less extensively than formerly. It has 

 also a small vinegar manufactory. Coals, wood, &c. are 

 brought to the town by barges, which come up the ri- 

 ver from Lynn in Norfolk, and return with the corn 

 of the surrounding country. 



This borough returns two members to Parliament, 

 the right of election being vested in about 200 of the 

 freemen and inhabitants. It is governed by a mayor, 

 12 aldermen, and a number of burgesses. The follow- 

 ing is the population of the borough of Huntingdon in 

 1811: 



Number of houses 450 



Number of families 522 



Families employed in trade and manufactures 29 1 



Males 1085 



Females 1312 



Total population 2397 



See the Beauties of England and Wales, vol. vii. p. 345. 



Hunting- 

 donshire. 





HUNTINGDON. See PENNSYLVANIA. 



HUNTINGDONSHIRE, an inland county of Eng- 

 land, is almost inclosed by Cambridgeshire and Nor- situation"" 

 thamptonshire ; by the former it is bounded on the boundaries 

 north-east, and part of the south ; by the latter, on the and extent. 

 north and west. Bedfordshire bounds it also partly on 

 the south-west. Its limits are nearly artificial. The 

 river Nen, and the canals which join it to the Ouse, 

 form its limits on the north and north-east, on the Nor- 

 thamptonshire and Cambridgeshire borders. The Ouse, 

 at its entrance, separates for a short space from Bed- 

 fordshire, and at its exit from Cambridgeshire. The 

 figure of this county is so irregular as scarcely to afford 

 a proper measurement ; but reckoning from its furthest 

 projection, it does not exceed 24 miles each way, and 

 in general is of much less extent. In fact, it is the 

 smallest county in England except Rutland, and is very 

 nearly the size of Middlesex ; Huntingdon containing, 

 according to the best accounts, about 210,000 acres ; 

 Rutland, 110,000; and Middlesex about 200,000 acres. 

 The whole upland part in ancient times was a forest, 

 and particularly adapted to the chace, whence the name 

 of the county took its rise. It was disafforested by 

 Henry II., III., and Edward I., the last of whom left no 

 more of it a forest than what covers his own ground. 



It is divided into four hundreds, namely, Norman- Divisions, 

 cross towards the north ; Toseland towards the south ; 

 Hurstingstone towards the east; and Leightonstone to. 

 wards the west. It contains one county-town, Hunt- 

 ingdon ; six market towns, of which the principal are 

 Kimbolton, St Neots, St Ives, and Godmanchester. 

 The number of parishes Js 104. It is in the province 

 of Canterbury, and diocese of Lincoln. The ecclesias- 

 tical government is managed by the archdeacon of 

 Huntingdon, and it is divided into five deaneries. It 

 is in the Norfolk circuit, and returns four members to 

 Parliament, viz. two for the county, and two for Hunt- 

 ingdon. This county and Cambridgeshire are joined 

 together under one civil administration, there being 

 but one high-sheriff for both ; who is alternately cho- 

 sen one year out of Cambridgeshire, the second year 

 out of the isle of Ely, and the third year out of this 

 county. It is one of the seven counties, Bedford, 

 Huntingdon, Bucks, Berks, Hertford, Essex, and Suf- 

 folk, that are contiguous without a city. 



The fenny part of it lies in the Bedford level on the Surface, 

 north-east, and joining the fens of Ely. There are be- 

 sides three distinct varieties of surface in this county. 

 The borders of the Ouse, flowing across the south-east 

 part, consist of a tract of most beautiful and fertile 

 meadows, of which Portsholme Mead, near Hunting, 

 don, is particularly celebrated. The middle and west. 

 ern parts are finely varied in their surface, fruitful in 

 corn, and sprinkled with woods. The upland parts 

 still bear the appearance of ancient forest lands. 



The soils are various. In the upland parts, they are Soil f. 

 chiefly a strong deep clay, more or less intermingled 

 with loam, or a deep gravelly soil, with loam. Of what 

 are called the deep stapled lands, by far the greatest 

 part are still in an open-field state. Indeed, there is a 

 larger proportion of this most unproductive land in 

 Huntingdonshire than perhaps in any other county of 

 England ; upwards of one-third of the high lands be- 

 ing still uninclosed. The more anciently inclosed parts 

 are, generally speaking, in the possession of a few pro- 

 prietors ; but in the new inclosures, and in the open 

 fields, property is divided among a much greater num- 

 ber of persons. The woodlands are but of inconsider- 

 able extent, and the county is thin of timber. This 



