…got a question. OK! I know it has nothing to do with flyfishing, but it’s been working on me, and I need an answer.
The original Gilly suits (re:WWI) were named after the Scottish hunting guides. Where did they get the name Gilly? Is it from a region? County? What? Thanks in advance.
Betty
Trouts don’t live in ugly places
[url=http://www.williethegillie.com/:ee61c]http://www.williethegillie.com/[/url:ee61c]
Not a Scottsman, maybe this will help.
Pete
The terms “Gillie-up” or “Gillie Suit” come from Scotland. Scottish gamekeepers or “Gillies” wore clothing sown together with local foliage. These were originally used when trying to locate poachers.
Bill
I thought it came from that bar in Texas…silly me!
Gillie if I remember right means man in galic so Gilly or Gillie suit is man suit
Ghost
From an online Scottish languagage website (http://www.scots-online.org/) gillie means male servant.
You all are absolutely fantastic! Thank you so much!
Betty
I 'm with Flats dude, I thought it was a big bar in Texas with a dirt floor and mechanical bull!!
Here we go again, explaining to the colonials.
The word in Scotland is ususlly spelt ghillie
which is from the Gaelic. It originally in far and distant past(I mean 6 or 7 hundred years) it meant boy or a body servant to a highland gentleman i.e. a clan chief.
By the 19th century it meant someone who helped a hunter or fisher and acted as a gamekeeper. They usually wore (and some still do) heavy tweed clothing in appropriately colours to blend into the background.The colour “Lovat” comes from Lord Lovat who was chief of the Frasers and formed a group called the Lovat Scouts in the Army, they last fought at Normandy in 1944, but were disbanded after the war. They (the ghillies) also wore the above mentioned clothing when trying to catch poachers, of which there was a plague between the first and second world wars. The British Army adopted a version, not surprising as a large proportion of their expert marksmen were ghillies in civilian life. It was then called a gillie suit by the army.
End of lesson. 
Donald/Scotland
[This message has been edited by Donald Nicolson (edited 11 March 2005).]
By golly, now we know…What’s a female “ghillie” called??? (That ought to stir up some controversy.) GGG
A ghillette?..pretty sharp thinking, eh?
Donald,
I was waiting for you to weigh in on this one. It’s the same thing we were told in sniper school. I still have my original ghillie suit, though it no longer fits like it used to.
REE
“By golly, now we know…What’s a female “ghillie” called??? (That ought to stir up some controversy.) GGG”
Why…a Ghirlie, of course…!
Whew, Betty, you scared the dickens out of me! When I saw the title of your post I thought you went and gave poor Carry the boot! Hee, hee 
Seriously, I saw Gunny R.Lee Ermey in a ghillie suit on Mail Call a few weeks back I believe. You can email him at the History Channel web site with questions about the military. The Gunny likes getting emails.
Eric “nighthawk”
Gig…why didn’t I think of dat? G
Night…I thought the same thing…hmmmm! Just kiddin’!
Wish I’d thought of that, too!!! Nah. Cary’s a good guy! Buys me cool toys and takes me fishing.
Actually, “Gunny watching” is what fueled the question in the first place.
There’s so much to learn! And so many people willing to help! Can’t beat that!
Trouts don’t live in ugly places