Decorative Initial Like Tory, a complex and ambiguous political
designation, originally applied to cattle-drovers in south-west
Scotland. Later in the seventeenth century it was applied first
to extremist Covenanters and then to the political and military
faction defeated by Charles the II. Later it was applied to
those who opposed, on religious grounds (he was a Roman
Catholic) the succession of James, Duke of York, to the throne
of England. After the Glorious Revolution in 1688, the Whig
party adhered, at least in theory, to the following principles:
they were advocates of personal freedom, maintaining that the
king governed at the people's consent ("the people" was itself,
of course, an ambiguous term at this time, since it did not
include, for example, women), and that sovereignty rested,
ultimately, with the people. They were strong supporters of
William III and his consort Mary, and maintained a virtual
monopoly of political power during their reign.  The Whigs,
though their leadership was aristocratic,