gillie

American  

[gil-ee] / ˈgɪl i /

Or gilly

noun

1. Scot.

   1. a hunting or fishing guide.

   2. a male attendant or personal servant to a Highland chieftain.

2. ghillie.

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gillie British  

/ ˈɡɪlɪ /

noun

1. an attendant or guide for hunting or fishing

2. (formerly) a Highland chieftain's male attendant or personal servant

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Etymology

Origin of gillie

First recorded in 1590–1600, gillie is from the Scots Gaelic word gille lad, servant

Example Sentences

First she lost her adored husband, Albert, and never got over it, and then John Brown, her beloved Scots gillie, died on her.

From New York Times • Oct. 3, 2017

That paragon of puritanical virtue, Queen Victoria, was thought by some of her contemporaries to be the secret wife of Disraeli or the secret mistress of her Scottish gillie, John Brown.

From Time Magazine Archive

A pelican, taken from its cage to pose for a news-camera, wandered over to the fish exhibition and was diving for one of the lion-headed goldfish when interrupted by a goldfish gillie.

From Time Magazine Archive

As a guest of Queen Victoria, Landseer went deerstalking with a gillie from Balmoral.

From Time Magazine Archive

It is likely that both Begg and Moore owe something to the Gaelic adjectives for little and big, as in the well-known names of Callum Beg, Edward Waverley's gillie, and McCallum More.

From The Romance of Names by Weekley, Ernest