Related
1661] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 47 good earnest to consider how I might ridd myself of this countrey
42 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1661 misfortune
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 163 and equity which I had on my syde
110 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 I gave up my petition
1699] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 193 ' A number of Strelitzes were executed
1667] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 103 to me, desireing me to let him have him
1686] DIAHY OF PATRICK GORDON. Ill granted me two Strcltsees for a convoy
1666] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 79 I did writt to Sir John Hebden
146 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [168G Haveing dyned, and hearing my trunks were come from Edinburgh
1661] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 39 small stock I had ; as for the 1000 reichs dollers promised me
Summary
Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
1661] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 39
small stock I had ; as for the 1000 reichs dollers promised me, I might pos-
sibly wait for that some tyme too, and spend the most part of it befor I
should get from thence ; and so, at last, being dismounted and ill provided
of money, and without ffriends or acquaintance in any other place, in a tyme
of peace, a lyvelyhood or honourable charge would be very difficult to gett.
These and many other things considering, I began to waver in my re-
solution, and, at last, found my self very apprehensive of the foresaid rea-
sons, and convinced so that I resolved not to go to Vienna ; to the which
the great soUicItatlons and promises of the Russe ambassadour, Zamiatv
Fiodorovitz Leontiuf, and Colonell Crawfuird, with others, contributed very-
much. The only difficulty was, how to come handsomely of from the am-
bassadour d'Isola ; for, albeit, I should have been very welcome againe to
the crowne and I'eltniarshall ; yet was I ashamed, and feared to have it ob-
jected to me hereafter ; and also, albeit, I should have been accommodated
in the crowne or Littawish army, with a charge to my contentment, yet
durst I not, for fear of offending such a prince, who had been so gracious
to me, and who was of so great power, and whom I had already but too
nmch offended by soUiciting for my pass, and quitting the service. So,
haveing made sure with the Russe ambassadour, and let of the most of my
servants, I went to the Roman Emperours ambassadour, and desired to know
how long it would be befor his dispatches w^ould be ready. He told me that
it would be eight dayes. Then I told him, that I had all my best things
lying in Thorun, thirty miles from hence, and that he would permitt me to
go and fetch them, promiseing to returne precisely against that tyme ; which
he granting, and desireing me not to delay, nor disapoint him, I tooke my
leave.
I had nothing now to do but to prepare for my jorney ; so, haveing gott
Colonell Crawfuird and Captain Menezes* ready, I tooke leave of my
ffriends, and, to make clear with the Roman Emperours ambassadour, I left
* (PaulMenzies, the younger brother of the land in the beginning of 1672; and, m the
gallnnt boy who bore the royal standard in next year, was sent as envoy from the Czar
Mor.trose's last battle, was a son of Sir Gilbert Alexis to the Republic of Venice, the Pope,
Menzies of Pitfoddels, by his marriage in :623 the Emperor, and the Elector of Brandenburg,
with Lady Ann Gordon, daughter of John, When at the court of Rome, he prevailed with
twelfth Earl of Sutlu^rland. He entered the Pope Clement X. to sanction a service in corn-
Roman Catholic College of Douay when at the memoration of St. Margaret, Queen of Scot-
age of ten, in the summer of 1647. In 1G61, land — (Pinkcrt. Yitt. Autiq Sanctt. Scotiae,
he appears as a captain in the Polish ranks. pp 301,309) He died, a lieutenant general in
Joining the Muscovite l)anner in the same the Russian service, on the 9th of November,
year, along with Patrick Gordon, he rose to 1G94.]
the rank of major in 1663. Ue was in Scot-
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.