Tory

Synonym, though historically inappropriate, for a Conservative. The word Tory is Irish and signified, during the time of Elizabeth I, a kind of bandit, who, being attached to neither army, preyed generally upon the country. They were especially prominent in the Protestant massacres of 1641. From this the term came to be applied to a body of men who, in 1680, appear to have ridiculed the Popish Plot and yet encouraged the Papists to revive it. Their political object was to banish the Duke of Monmouth and recall the Duke of York, and to further their end they endeavored to thwart the Bill of Exclusion (from their abhorrence to which they were called 'abhorrers' and 'petitioners' and became identified with the Tories and Whigs respectively.

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