486 H U N 
verned by a mayor, twelve aldermen, and a common- 
council, and lends two members to parliament. This 
town derives its name from the Saxon huntadune, or hun- 
ters’-aown, from the conveniency of its diftriet for hunting. 
It was built on a 1 'pot that was an. entire foreft, until it 
was disforefted by Henry II. Henry III. and Edward I. 
who left no more of the foreft than his own land. This 
town fent members to parliament ab arigine, and was made 
a borough by king John, 1206. John granted to the 
town, by charter, a coroner, a recorder, a town-clerk, 
and two bailiffs; but Charles I. gave its firlt charter under 
a mayor, anno regni 6, 1630. 
Huntingdon 'has formerly been confiderably more ex¬ 
tensive than at prefent, and is laid to have contained no 
fewer than two hundred and twenty-leven burgefles, and 
to have had fifteen churches in it. This decay is afcribed, 
by Speed, to the alteration of the courl’e of the river by 
one Gray, who, fays the hiftorian, malicioufly obftructed 
its navigation to the town, which had before been en¬ 
riched by it. It is, however, made navigable for fmall 
veffels as high as Bedford. Here is a good grammar-fe- 
minary, with a free Eng'lilh fchool, both well endowed. 
We mu ft not clofe our description of Huntingdon with¬ 
out mentioning the witches of Warbois, who once made 
fo much noil'e. We Ihall therefore juft mention the fatal 
end of a man, his wife, and daughter, who were all three 
hanged for torturing the children of fir Roger Throg¬ 
morton. The hiftory of it is kept in Queen’s-college 
library, in .Cambridge ; and one of their fellows preaches 
yearly at Huntingdon on that occafion. The children 
being fick, their urine was fent to Dr. Dorrington, at 
Cambridge, who fent a medicine againft worms. That 
prevailing nothing, the doctor, upon fecond thoughts, 
pronounced the fymptoms were from witchcraft. It was 
not long before a poor family was fufpefted : the woman 
and her daughter were frequently fent for, and kept with 
the children, and the difeafe remitted upon the light of 
them ; but chiefly upon a confeflion, and a fort of petition 
added to it. To this effedt was the girl’s: “ As I am a 
witch, and a greater witch than my mother, fo do I defire 
that the pains Ihall go off from this child.” Thefe con- 
felfions were the chief point againft the prifoners, which 
they had been prevailed upon to repeat to the ftanders-by, 
who had obferved the children relieved upon it, as they 
imagined. And thus three unhappy perfons were facri- 
ficed to ignorance and fuperftition. The girl’s perfecuto-s 
bad only one circumftance againft her, that of concealing 
herfelf: for, when the mob came to feize her mother, the 
girl hid herfelf in the coal-hole. On her trial, the by- 
itanders, pitying her youth and innocence, advifed her to 
plead pregnancy; Are replied, with the utmoft fpirit, that, 
notwithftanding they had power to put her to death, they 
Ihould never make her deftroy her reputation by fo infa¬ 
mous a plea. 
HUN'TINGDON,anextenfive and mountainous county 
of the American States, in Pennfylvania, bounded north 
and north-weft by Lycoming county, eaft and north-eaft 
by Mifflin, fouth-eall by Franklin, fouth and fouth-weft 
b)' Bedford and Somerl’et, and weft by Weftmoreland. 
It is about feventy-flve miles long, and thirty-nine broad; 
contains 1,4.32,960 acres of land, divided intofeven town- 
dips, which contain 7565 inhabitants. Lime-ftone, iron 
ore, and lead, are found here ; and they manufacture con- 
fiderable quantities of pig and bar iron, and hollow ware; 
alfo large works have been eftablilhed for manufacturing 
of lead. Chief town, Huntingdon. 
HUN'TINGDON, the capital of the above county, 
fituated on the north-eaft fide of Juniatta river, and at 
the mouth of Standing Stone creek, fifty miles from the 
.mouth of Juniatta. It is about twenty-three miles weft- 
ibuth-welf of Louis Town, and 184 weft-north-weft of 
Philadelphia. 
HUN'TINGDON, a poft-town of the American States, 
on the north fide of Long Ifland, New York, fituated at 
the head ot,a bay in Suffolk county, which lets up fouth 
H U. N 
from the found: thirty-eight miles eaft by north of Nevr 
York city. It is oppofite to Norwalk in Connecticut, and 
contains by the cenfus 3260 inhabitants. 
HUN'TINGDON, a townlhip of the American States, 
in York county, Pennfylvania. 
HUN'TINGDON, a townlhip of the American States, 
in Fairfield county, Connecticut, feparated from Derby 
on the north-eaft by Stratford river. 
HUN'TINGDON, a fmall ifland, near the eaft of La- 
-brador. Lat. 54. N. Ion. 57. 15. W. Greenwich. 
HUNTINGDONSHIRE, is one of the fmalleft but 
molt beautiful counties in England. It is almolt en- 
clofed by Cambridgeshire and Northamptonlhire; the 
former of which bounds it on the north-eaft and part of 
the fouth, the latter on the north and -weft. The re¬ 
mainder is bounded by Bedfordlhire. The river Nen, and 
the canals, or dykes, joining it to the Oufe, form its limits 
on the north and north-eaft. The OuSe, at its entrance, 
feparatcs it for a Ihort fpace from Bedfordlhire; and, at 
its exit, from Cambridgelhire. The face of the country 
has three varieties. The borders of the Oufe, which flows 
acrofs the fouth-eaftern part, confill of a traCf of moft 
fertile and beautiful meadow's ; of which Port-holm-mead, 
near Huntingdon, almoll enclofed by a bt.id of the river, 
is particularly celebrated. 'The middle and weftern parts 
are. finely varied in their furface, fruitful in corn, and 
fprinkled with woods. The north-eaftern part confifts of 
fens, which join tlrofe of Ely. Thefe are drained fo as to 
afford rich pafturage for cattle, and even large crops of 
corn. In the midlt of them are fome Shallow pools, 
abounding with lifli. The largeft of thefe is a lake of 
confiderable fize, called Whittlelea Meer. At Ramfey, 
on the edge of the fens, was formerly a very rich abbey, 
built, like that of Crowland, in the midft of a bog. The 
fituation of thefe, and of various other religious lroufes, 
as thofe of Ely and Thorney, was probably chofen as 
well with a view' to fecurity from the difficulty of ap¬ 
proach, as to the plenty of fiSh and water-fowl inhabiting 
thefe watery retreats. Kimbolton-caftle was the place 
w'here Catharine, the divorced v.'ife of Henry VIII. ended 
her days in a peaceful retirement. The village of Stilton 
gives name to a very rich and delicate kind of cheeie, 
which, however, is faid not to be the product of its neigh¬ 
bourhood. 
During the Saxon heptarchy, Huntingdonfliire belonged 
to the kingdom of Mercia; it is now in the province of 
Canterbury, diocefe of Lincoln, and included in the Nor¬ 
folk circuit. It is thirty miles long, twenty-four broad, 
and 130 in circuit; containing 414 fquare miles, 264,960- 
fquare acres, divided into four hundreds, feventy-eight 
parishes, twenty-nine vicarages, 229 villages, and fix mar¬ 
ket towns, viz. Huntingdon, the county-town, which 
gives the title of earl to the fatnily of Haftings; Kim- 
bolton, which gives title of baron to the Montagu 
family ; St. Neotsj which gives the title of baron to ano¬ 
ther branch of the Montagu family; Ramfey; Yaxley; 
and St. Ives. Among the villages, Hinchingbroke gives 
the title of vifcount to another branch of the Montagu 
family. It fends four members to parliament, two for 
the County and t\vo for Huntingdon ; and pays four parts 
of the land-tax. The only rivers are the Oufe, Nen, and 
Cam, with fome fmaller Streams. The moft remarkable 
places are King’s Delf and Dykes ; Ramfey, Whittlelea, 
and Ug, Meers; Warbridge Foreft; w'ith Salom and Al- 
conbury Woods. This is one of the feven counties that 
are contiguous wdthout a city in either, viz. Bedford, 
Huntingdon, Bucks, Berks, Hertford, Elfex, and Suffolk. 
The general produces of this county are corn, cattle, 
wood, game, fiffl from‘the meers, rich pailure, excellent 
cheefe, and fine butter. The foil is rich, and the air, 
except in the fenny parts, good. Huntingdon is re¬ 
markable for having been the birth-place of that very 
famous and remarkable ufurper Oliver Cromwell ; and 
St. Ives for the large ft market in England for cattle, ex¬ 
cept Smithfield ; and at Warbois are the moft beautiful 
meadows 
3 
