Related
150 DIAEY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 Nethermuir. I went thereafter to the Links
74 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1666 go from hence. So here wee lodged, and the next morning came to Dort
146 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [168G Haveing dyned, and hearing my trunks were come from Edinburgh
110 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 I gave up my petition
1690] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 107 their arrival was announced. Gordon was at once admitted to His Majesty
1698] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 189 ' I broke up in the morning, and pitched camp again on the Swidnja, a vcrst from Tuschina
1667] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 95 After breakfast, I went to Greenwich, Sir John [Hebden]
1666] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 73 Haveing breakfasted early, and given the postmaster
126 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 religion* At night wee cast anchor
156 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 In the morning, I came to Novogrod, and gave immediately notice to the Governour
Summary
Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
156 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686
In the morning, I came to Novogrod, and gave immediately notice to
the Governour-, who promised my dispatch without delay. I dined by the
translator Hutner, and, in the afternoone, visited the governour Peter
Vaslllovits Seremetuf, who gave present orders for my dispatch. And so,
getting another boat, in the evening wee set forwards up the river Msta.
And being all night on the river, wee came, about sunriseing, to the village
Erunets, being thirty verst from Novogrodt by water ; and, getting horses,
wee went from hence about eleven a clock, and comeing fyve verst further,
wee crossed the river Nissia, which runneth to the south and falleth In the
lake Ilmien. Then through woods, the most part of the way being bridged,
ten verst, to the village Krasny Stanky ; then to the village Podlltovia, and
to Sayontskowa, where hath been formerly a stage. Here wee supped, and
about midnight set forward, and by day light wee crossed the river Moshna,
haveing fed the horses ; and then liaveiug the river Chotilewa on our left
hand all the way, the way likewise haveing been most bridged, wee came
in the morning to the village Kresty;* where, dineing and getting fresh
horses, wee travelled in better way through a pleasant countrey, and, cross-
ing the river Cholowa diverse tymes, to the village Rekin, and through
woods with lakes on each sydc. Wee fedd the horses by the river Poluma,
which crossing, wee passed through the village Yosselbitza in the twilight ;
and travelling the whole night, befor day wee passed through the village
Balday,"j" where most LIttavers live. Here, in a lake, is a monastery called
Iversky, which hath large lands in this tract belonging to it.
About three verst further, wee came to Zlemna Gora, where getting
fresh horses, and paying for each . . . about sunriseing, wee set for-
ward, and came through a hilly stony countrey, to a lake called Shidorowa,
with a village of the same name ; then twelve verst further, to the village
and river Beroosa, where dineing, and crossing the river by a bridge, where
a litle chappell, wee came twenty fyve verst further, to the village OholUowa,
which hath been formerly a stage ; and ten verst further, wee fed the horses
in the fields, by the village Columna, here haveing rested the most part of
the night.
Wee travelled twenty verst, and crossed the river Slino, by the village
Brosda ; and fyve verst further, wee crossed the river Tzna, by Alsnogo
* [Krestelskoi-jam ] t [Waklay.]
Gordon was brought up and remained a lifelong Roman Catholic, at a time when the Church was being persecuted in Scotland. At age of fifteen, he entered the Jesuit college at Braunsberg, East Prussia, then part of Poland. In 1661, after many years experiences as a soldier of fortune, he joined the Russian army under Tsar Aleksei I, and in 1665 was sent on a special mission to England. After his return, he distinguished himself in several wars against the Turks and Tatars in southern Russia. In recognition of his service he was promoted to major-general in 1678, was appointed to the high command at Kiev in 1679, and in 1683 was made lieutenant-general. In 1687 and 1689 he took part in expeditions against the Tatars in the Crimea, being made a full general. Later in 1689, a revolution broke out in Moscow, and with the troops under his command, Gordon virtually decided events in favor of Peter the Great against the Regent, Tsarevna Sophia Alekseyevna. Consequently, he was for the remainder of his life in high favor with the Tsar, who confided to him the command of his capital during his absence from Russia. In 1696, Gordon's design of a "moveable rampart" played a key role in helping the Russians take Azov. One of Gordon's convinced the Tsars to establish the first Roman Catholic church and school in Muscovy, of which he remained the main benefactor and headed the Catholic community in Russia until his death. For his services his second son James, brigadier of the Russian army, was created Count of the Holy Roman Empire in 1701. At the end of his life the Tsar, who had visited Gordon frequently during his illness, was with him when he died, and with his own hands closed his eyes. General Gordon left behind him a uniquely detailed diary of his life and times, written in English. This is preserved in manuscript in the Russian State Military Archive in Moscow. Passages from the Diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries (1635–1699) was printed, under the editorship of Joseph Robertson, for the Spalding Club, at Aberdeen, Scotland, 1859.