Cavalier The name given to supporters of the king in the Civil War. From the Spanish caballero, meaning a mounted soldier. By implication, a swaggering bully.

Gentleman/woman The most important social distinction is between the gentle folk and the rest (see Class and customs).

Godly In this century, the English often think of themselves as a people chosen by God. This is the name that the Puritans (see below) prefer to use to describe themselves.

Papist Roman Catholic, or follower of the Pope (see Godly nation). Often applied to anyone who is subversive, or who likes their Mass to be led by a priest dressed in rich vestments, accompanied by music, in a church with paintings on the wall and stained glass in the windows. Papist is a widely used insult. Fear of popery is a pervasive mass anxiety.

Presbyterian A strain of Protestantism particularly popular in Scotland, in which lay elders are preferred to bishops. Religion is a bit of a minefield (see Godly nation).

Puritan Radical Protestant. Puritans usually believe in a much more strict version of religion than ordinary folk, and like their worship to be pure, with no frills. Ministers wear sober clothes, not vestments; congregations sing psalms and have bare whitewashed walls in their churches. Often derided as killjoys because of their opposition to swearing, drunkenness and sexual licence. Puritan is a widely used insult.

Roundhead Supporter of Parliament, named after the pudding-basin haircuts of the apprentice boys who defended Parliament at the start of the Civil War in 1642. But it's a myth that Puritans or Parliamentarians have shorter hair than Cavaliers – portraits of the time show that most men wear their hair long.

Tory  From Toraidhe, Irish for bandit, cattle thief or outlaw. Initially applied pejoratively to the supporters of the future James II during the Exclusion Crisis, it later becomes the name of a political party of those who, by common agreement, are particularly loyal to 'Church and king'. See DIY politics. A subsection – the High Tories – are especially fierce in their devotion to the Church of England, opposing the union with Scotland because of it.

Whig  Abbreviation of 'whiggamore', a term applied to the Scots Covenanters and then to a developing political party of all those who oppose the future James II during the Exclusion Crisis. Their key values are civil and political liberty, and they meet socially at the Kit Kat Club (so-called because they meet at the home of confectioner Christopher Kat). See DIY politics.

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