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Tha am facal gille gu math inntinneach, nach eil? Tha Faclair Dwelly ag innse dhuinn gu bheil e a’ ciallachadh ‘boy, lad, youth, manservant, ploughman...’ Chuirinn mac no ‘son’ ris an liosta, oir bidh daoine ag ràdh ‘seo an gille agam’ airson ‘seo mo mhac’. Canaidh sinn gille a’ mhansa ri mac ministeir.

Gu math tric, bidh am facal gille air a chur ri eileamaid eile airson facal-fillte a dhèanamh. Mar eisimpleir – gille-stàbaill ‘a stableboy’ no gille-turais ‘an errand boy’. Anns an t-seann aimsir, bhiodh na h-uaislean a’ cumail ghillean, agus dreuchdan sònraichte aca – mar eisimpleir gille-cupa ‘a cup-bearer’ no gille-frithealaidh ‘a page or servant’. Bhiodh gille-airm a’ cumail armachd airson a mhaighstir agus b’ e gille-ruith ‘a courier or runner’.

Bha eadhon gillean cas-fhliuch aig feadhainn de na h-uaislean. ’S e sin gille a bhiodh a’ togail ceann-cinnidh no uachdaran air a dhruim airson a thoirt tarsainn allt no abhainn. Bhiodh an gille a’ faighinn a chasan fliuch ach bhiodh casan a mhaighstir air an gleidheadh tioram!

Tha am facal gille feumail cuideachd ann an co-cheangal ri nàdar. Tha ainmhidhean ann, agus ‘gille’ anns an ainm aca. Seo agaibh eisimpleirean: Gille-Brìde ‘oystercatcher’. Tha an t-eun seo co-cheangailte ri Naomh Brìde. Gille-cràigein ‘a toad’; gille-feadaig ‘dunlin’; agus gille-fionn no gille-fionndrain – ’s e sin ‘dogwhelk’ – maorach bàn a gheibhear air creagan is clachan air a’ chladach. ’S e gille-màrtainn seann ainm airson sionnach no madadh-ruadh. Bha ceangal ann, a rèir choltais, eadar an sionnach agus Clann Mhàrtainn.

Agus tha ainmean lusan againn anns a bheil am facal gille. Canaidh sinn gille-mu-lunn ri feamainn le toinntean fada caola. Bidh an fheamainn sin a’ dol timcheall an luinn – am pìos ann am meadhain ràimh – nuair a thathar ag iomradh geòla. ’S ann agams’ a tha fios air sin, agus mi a’ feuchainn ri iomradh gu tric ann an acarsaidean fasgach air taobh an iar na Gàidhealtachd!

’S e gille-gorm no gille-guirmein a th’ againn air ‘cornflower’ ann an Gàidhlig, agus ’s e ainm eile a th’ air ròs an t-solais no ‘round-leaved sundew’ – gille-driùchd. Gu litreachail, tha gille-driùchd a’ ciallachadh ‘lad or son of [the] dew’. Bidh boinneagan lionna a’ nochdadh air na duilleagan agus tha iad a’ coimhead coltach ri boinneagan driùchd.

Bidh sibh a’ tuigsinn gun robh am facal gille air a chleachdadh uiread air an t-seann Ghàidhealtachd ’s gun do ghabh muinntir na Beurla ris mar fhacal feumail. Tha e air a dhol a-steach don Bheurla mar ‘gillie’ no ‘ghillie’ – le, no às aonais ‘h’ an dèidh an ‘g’. Tha na faclairean Beurla ag innse dhuinn gun deach gille a-null don Bheurla anns an t-siathamh linn deug. Ann am Beurla, tha e a’ ciallachadh ‘a man or boy who attends someone on a hunting or fishing expedition’ agus cuideachd, gu h-eachdraidheil, ‘a Highland chief’s attendant’.

Tha na faclairean eadhon ag innse dhuinn gun tàinig gille-cas-fhliuch a-steach don Bheurla mar gilliewetfoot. Bha na Goill ga chleachdadh mar fhacal tàireil airson Gàidheil a bha dìleas do cheann-cinnidh.

Faclan na Litreach: dreuchdan sònraichte: special occupations; sionnach no madadh-ruadh: two words for a fox; Clann Mhàrtainn: Clan Martin; meadhain ràimh: middle of an oar; acarsaidean fasgach: sheltered anchorages.

Abairtean na Litreach: Chuirinn X ris an liosta: I would add X to the list; canaidh sinn gille a’ mhansa ri mac ministeir: we call a minister’s son the son of the manse; a’ cumail armachd airson a mhaighstir: keeping arms for his master; bha eadhon X aig feadhainn de na h-uaislean: some of the gentry even had X; feumail cuideachd ann an co-cheangal ri nàdar: also useful in connection with nature; tha an t-eun seo co-cheangailte ri Naomh Brìde: this bird is connected to St Bride; maorach bàn a gheibhear air creagan is clachan air a’ chladach: a white shellfish that is found on rocks and stones on the seashore; nàdar de dh’iasg: a type of fish; canaidh sinn gille-mu-lunn ri feamainn le toinntean fada caola: we call a seaweed with long narrow filaments ‘lad about the middle part of an oar’ (the species is Chorda filum); nuair a thathar ag iomradh geòla: when a dinghy is being rowed; bidh boinneagan lionna a’ nochdadh air na duilleagan: little drops of liquid appear on the leaves; tha iad a’ coimhead coltach ri boinneagan driùchd: they look like little drops of dew; gun do ghabh muinntir na Beurla ris mar fhacal feumail: English-speakers adopted it as a useful word; anns an t-siathamh linn deug: in the sixteenth century; bha na Goill ga chleachdadh mar fhacal tàireil airson Gàidheil a bha dìleas do cheann-cinnidh: [the] Lowlanders were using it as a contemptuous word for Gaels who were loyal to a clan chief.

Puing-chànain na Litreach: ’S ann agams’ a tha fios air sin: I well know that myself. I might have said ‘Tha fios agam fhèin air sin’ but remember that a good idiomatic way of starting a sentence like this, which requires emphasis, is with ‘ʼS ann’. ʼS ann orrasan a bha an t-eagal ‘they were extremely frightened’; ʼs ann glas a bha a h-aodann, agus tinneas na mara oirre ‘her face was grey-green with sea-sickness’.

Gnàthas-cainnt na Litreach: bidh am facal gille air a chur ri eileamaid eile airson facal-fillte a dhèanamh: the word gille can [will] be added to another element to make a compound word.