1837. J. C. Neal, Charcoal Sketches. Put on your skeets and tortle.
Tortoise.—See Pump and Tortoise.
Tory, subs. (old: long recognised).—(1)
Orig. (Irish) = a marauder:
spec. a bandit (16th century) who,
to cover lawlessness, took up arms
for the King. Hence (2) a bully,
a 'terror'; and (3) a generic reproach:
e.g., (a) a sympathiser
with, disbeliever in, or supposed
abettor of the Popish plot; (b)
one who refused to concur in the
Exclusion Act confirming the succession
to the throne to Protestants,
a measure which was directly
aimed at the Duke of York,
afterwards James II.; and (c),
collectively, the Court as distinguished
from the Country party,
or Whigs (q.v.). Subsequently
Tory assumed its modern meaning:
i.e., one upholding the existing
order of things in Church and
State, as opposed to Liberal, i.e.,
one who sought, by experimental
legislation, to remedy admitted
or supposed disabilities. About
1832 Tory began to be superseded
by 'Conservative'; indeed the
march of time has now (1903)
considerably modified the old
Tory political ideas.
1566. Irish State Papers. That Irish Papists . . . have returned into Ireland, occasioning the increase of Tories and other lawless persons.
[?] Bishop, Marrow of Astrology, 43. And now I must leave the orb of Jupiter, and drop down a little lower to the sphere of Mars, who is termed a tory amongst the stars.
1680. [Pinnock, Goldsmith's Hist. Eng. (1873), 252. The year 1680 is remarkable for the introduction of the well-known epithets Whig and Tory. The former was given to the popular party, from their pretended affinity to the fanatical conventiclers of Scotland, who were known by the name of Whigs. The latter was given to the courtiers, from a supposed resemblance between them and the Popish banditti in Ireland, to whom the appellation of Tories was affixed. Thus these two ridiculous words came into general use, and have continued ever since to mark rival parties, though with very different meanings.]
1681. Dryden, Absalom and Achit., 'To Reader.' Wit and fool are consequents of Whig and Tory; and every man is a knave or an ass to the contrary side. Ibid., Kind Keeper, iv. 1. Lift up your voices . . . you tory-rory jades.
1694. Motteux, Pant. Prog. Braggadocios, tory-rory rakes and tantivy boys.
1695. Laws of William III. [Ribton-Turner, Vagrants and Vagrancy, 396]. The frequent robberies, murders, and other notorious felonies, committed by robbers, rapparees, and Tories, upon their keeping hath greatly discouraged the replanting of . . . [Ireland].
c. 1696. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Tories, Zealous Sticklers for the Prerogative and Rights of the Crown, in behalf of the Monarchy; also Irish thieves, or Rapparies.
1706. Phillips, World of Words, s.v. Moss-troopers, a sort of rebels in the northern part of Scotland, that live by robbery and spoil, like the tories in Ireland, or the banditti in Italy.
1714. Hearne, Diary, 25 Sep. King George hath begun to change all the ministers, and to put in the whiggs . . . to the grievous mortification of that party called tories.
1719. Durfey, Pills to Purge, etc., i. 43. To oagle there a Tory tall, or a little Whig, Defying the Pretender.
1725. Swift, Letter, 11 Sep. There is hardly a whig in Ireland who would allow a potato and butter-milk to a reputed tory.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Tory. An advocate for absolute monarchy and church power: also, an Irish vagabond, robber, or rapparee.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., ii. At this time were first heard two nicknames which, though originally given in insult, were soon assumed with pride. . . . It is a curious circumstance that one . . . was of Scotch, and the other of Irish, origin. Both in Scotland and in Ireland, misgovernment had called into existence bands
