Tory
Tory (tôr′ē)
noun pl. -·ries
- in the 17th cent., any of the dispossessed Irish who became outlaws, killed English settlers and soldiers, and lived by plundering
- later, an armed Irish Catholic or Royalist
- in 1679-1680, a person who opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York, from succession to the English throne
- after 1689, a member of one of the two major political parties of England: opposed to Whig, and later, to Liberal, Radical, Laborite; changed officially c. 1830 to Conservative
- in the American Revolution, a person who advocated or actively supported continued allegiance to Great Britain
- any extreme conservative; reactionary
Etymology: Ir tōruidhe, robber, pursuer < tōir, to pursue; akin to Gael tōir, pursuit
adjective
of, being, or having the conservative principles of a Tory
Tory
n.
IwasbornaTory, amaTory, and shall dieaTory.Inever yet heard that it was any part of the faith of aTory to take the institutions and liberties, the laws and customs that his country has evolved over the centuries, and mergethem with those of eight other nations into a new-made artificial stateöand what is more, to do so without the willing approbation and consent of the nation.
Wehave beenthe dreamers.We have beenthesufferers. Now wearethebuilders.We wantthe complete political extinction of theTory Partyöand 25 years of Labour Government, for we cannot do in five years what requires to be done.
No amount of cajolery, and no attempts at ethical or social seduction, can eradicate from my heart a deep and burning hatred for theTory Party that inflicted those experiences on me. So far as I am concerned, theyare lower than vermin.
Come, gie's a sang, Montgomery cry'd, And lay your disputes a'aside; What signifies't for folks to chide For what's been done before them? Let Whig and Torya'agree, Whig and Tory,Whig and Tory, Whig and Tory a'agree To drop their whigmigmorum; Let Whig and Torya'agree To spend this night wi'mirth and glee, And cheerfu'sing, alang wi'me, The Reel o' Tullochgorum.
I am neither a Whig nor aTory. My politics are described in one word, and that word is England.
We are now, as we have always been, decidedly and conscientiouslyattached to what is called theTory, and which might with more propriety be called the Conservative party.
A wiseToryand a wise Whig, I believe, will agree. Their principles are the same, though their modes of thinking are different.
