Page "Hillbilly" Paragraph 4

Although the term is not documented until 1900, a conjectural etymology for the term is that it originated in 17th century Ireland for Protestant supporters of King William III during the Williamite War.

The Irish Catholic supporters of James II referred to these northern Protestant supporters of " King Billy ", as " Billy Boys ".

However, Michael Montgomery, in From Ulster to America: The Scotch-Irish Heritage of American English, states " In Ulster in recent years it has sometimes been supposed that it was coined to refer to followers of King William III and brought to America by early Ulster emigrants …, but this derivation is almost certainly incorrect … In America hillbilly was first attested only in 1898, which suggests a later, independent development.