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The Ghillie - The sporting gentleman's gentleman
By Roger Kingston of roger Kingston - Osteopath
The Gentleman’s Gentleman his Ghilley
The ghilley was traditionally a man who lived on a Scottish or Irish sporting estate. He was most likely to have been born there and followed his father into the service of the Laird or Landowner. The ghilley was the fishing, shooting and stalking guide, though he would often double up as a river keeper or in raising the young birds for the shoot. He would learn the skills of his father and became an expert companion to the sporting gentleman and as the Highlands became more accessible by train in the Victorian era his skills were much sort after. On the salmon river, dressed in his tweeds, he would instruct the youngster or in advising his client that to cast another 3 yards further and put a second mend in his line would bring the fly to the salmon perfectly. He would then net the fish and take none of the credit for its capture. He would become a firm friend over the years and be booked for many years in advance by returning clients and despite this he always knew his place. Whilst controlling a boat by oar in the teeth of a howling gail on the Northern Lochs he would keep his head down thus risking being impaled on his clients hook. With the huge social upheaval of the First World War many of the young men had been killed in the carnage and also the ghilley started to die out as a trade. The Wall Street crash, the Great Depression all affected the incomes of the Scottish estates and staff numbers were steadily reduced. Many of those already in service stayed on but the trainee positions were not filled. After the Second World War the Labour government and the move away from the historical class system in the Uk had an effect and from there on the remaining ghillies would be older men with some into their 90’s being reluctant to retire. For a youngster new to sea trout and salmon fishing in the 80’s it was wonderful to hear the stories of these great men and of the battles they’d had with huge fish, lusty clients wives, and of the great men they worked for. Many unfortunately became alcoholic and would perform for the promise of whisky. But most had a phenomenal knowledge of their trade, a love of the sport and a huge passion for conservation and the out doors. They were also superb teachers and great technicians of casting the fly rod. In the late 80’s whilst at university I would swap my role as student to that of a mercenary ghillie on Loch Hope in the wilds of Northern Scotland and I was lucky enough to befriend one of the old school, Herbert MacDonald, who taught me so well. The stories of this man are legend, how he had survived being torpedoed and interned by the Japanese to being shot at by communists in the Malayan Emergency. He fought his ghosts on the loch with a dapping rod and his ability to predict the ways of the fish were just amazing. Unfortunately these great men are nearly all gone now. Many of the estates were lost in the Lloyds crash or to the policies of the last Labour government. No longer can a man or his family survive without a living wage as his home and board is no longer provided by the estate. The rivers and lochs are poached, polluted and the salmon are pursued with sonar and satellite in the ocean to provide fish for the table on a commercial scale. Perhaps these characters will reappear in Russia up on the Kola Peninsula were the new salmon bonanza has been found and that small band who would have once travelled to Scotland are now found there or in the cold winters they can now be found chasing the elusive bonefish in the Seychelles. The ghillie will live on in memory and I am so much enriched by having known some of them. |
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Really, really nice story Roger. I knew that these estates had "someone", but I didn't know that they were called Ghillies. How did these people lose their estates? I am unfamiliar with UK type... stuff... How can one just simply lose their livelihood if the money in the estate was there?
Wow, awesome intel. Like a novel in miniature. Thank you for this. I've read a number of books set in Scotland but the 'ghilley' is a new term for me. Jim, Lloyd's of London lost a colossal amount of money and because of the way the company's policies were structured - a holdover from centuries past - the investors were liable for huge amounts and many lost their shirts. See this link.
 |  | nick May 24, 2010 12:06 | |
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