Gillies' Hill
Preserved but no longer current.
In the battle of Bannockburn (1314) King Robert Bruce ordered all the gillies, drivers of carts, and camp followers to go behind a height. These, when the battle seemed to favour the Scots, desirous of sharing in the plunder, rushed from their concealment with such arms as they could lay hands on; and the English, thinking them to be a new army, fled in panic. The height was ever after called The Gillies* Hill.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Gillies' Hill” mean?
In the battle of Bannockburn (1314) King Robert Bruce ordered all the gillies, drivers of carts, and camp followers to go behind a height. These, when the battle seemed to favour the Scots, desirous of sharing in the plunder, rushed from their concealment with such arms as they could lay hands on; and the English, thinking them to be a new army, fled in panic. The height was ever after called The Gillies* Hill.
Is “Gillies' Hill” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.