While we are on the subject of “Tories”, and remembering that our main thrust is words, I have come across an interesting reference on the origins of the word. I haven’t had a chance to follow it up yet, but offer it in case anyone can shed more light here. I have just finished reading Pete McCarthy's new book "The Road to McCarthy". There is a section where he writes of Cromwell's vicious actions in Ireland in the mid 1600s (yes, the problems go back that far and further). Cromwell feared, to use McCarthy's words "...invasion from Ireland, which he perceived as a hotbed of support for the Royalist cause. The history of our islands echoes with such ironies and contradictions." As a result of his actions and Acts of Parliament "By 1654 three-quarters of the population had been moved to one-quarter of the land. Those who refused to go were subject to execution or transportation. Guerrilla fighters who took to the forests and mountains were known as Tories." I am now left wondering why they were known as Tories and whether the current usage of the name descends by some wandering route from those Irish Independents.
