Note 48 — Chapter II · HAWKS AND HAWKING.
Reading edition
To “cry on” anything was a familiar expression formerly. In Othello (Act v. Sc. 1), we read—
“Whose noise is this that ‘cries on’ murder?”
And in Richard III. (Act v. Sc. 3), Richmond says:—
“Methought, their souls, whose bodies Richard murder’d, Came to my tent, and ‘cried on’ victory.”
To “cry havoc” appears to have been a signal for indiscriminate slaughter. The expression, “Cry havoc, kings!” occurs in King John, Act ii. Sc. 2; and again in Julius Cæsar, Act iii. Sc. 1:—
“Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war.”
In Coriolanus (Act iii. Sc. 1), Menenius says—
“Do not cry Havoc, where you should but hunt With modest warrant.”