"Tory" was originally a term of abuse (Irish = "brigand").
True, but then again "Whig" is short for "whiggamore", Scots for "horse drover",
insultingly applied to the radical Covenanters who wanted to overthrow the
(Episcopal) Church of Scotland. Later it was applied to those who were opposed
on religious grounds to Shamus a Hocka (as my father called him)
succeeding his brother Charles II as King.
In America, "Whig" first meant the opponents of the British policy in North America,
even though much of the worst part of that policy (starting with the Declaratory Act 1766
declaring Parliament supreme in the colonies, and a direct copy of a similar
Declaratory Act 1719 about Ireland) was imposed by British Whigs. "Tories", therefore,
were the British loyalists. After independence, "Whig" was applied to the opponents
of 7th U.S. President Andrew Jackson.
--
Overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out.
--Arthur C. Clarke, "The Nine Billion Names of God"
