Related
1661] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 47 good earnest to consider how I might ridd myself of this countrey
1657 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 27 left to support themselves by charity
1667] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 97 storme, wee could not gett over to Embden
42 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1661 misfortune
170 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1690 delighted that he made the Boyars
186 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1697 put out the white flag
110 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 I gave up my petition
168 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1690 The twenty-eiglith of January
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 163 and equity which I had on my syde
1665-6] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 57 it was not fitt that lie should make any advantage for himself
Summary
Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
1665-6] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 57
it was not fitt that lie should make any advantage for himself, seing in his
masters business, for which he came, he had received no satisfaction ; and
that, two dayes thereafter, the present which, at his first audience, he had
presented from himself was returned ; and that, on the twenty-fourth, he
went from Mosko towards Sweden.
[A.D. 1665.]
Doktor Thomas Wilson came to Mosko, and lodged by Doktor Collins.* june lo.
But because the pestilence was in England, and he should have holden the
quarantine, befor he came to the citty, he, with one Kenedy, who came
with him, were sent back to stay at Klin, ninety verst from hence, and
Doktor Collins to Veschreseziansky,'!' where they were to remaine six weeks,
where all who conversed with them had liberty to go and come from Mosco,
but themselves not.
Yasily Yek. Deskow | returned, without satisfaction, as to his complaint
against the Earle of Carlile, haveing had but a cold reception ; yet, by the
bounty of the King, at his dismission, recompenced.
[During tliis year, 1665, Gordon had tidings of the death of his elder brother, Alexander, in
Scotland. He now earnestly petitioned for leave to revisit his native country, hut was refused.
But in the following summer, the Czar resolved to despatch him on a mission to England, under
circumstances which he himself shall describe.]
[A.D. 1666.1
1 fififi
I was sent for to the possolsky office, but comeing late, was ordered to june 22.
come the next day.
I went to the possolsky or ambassy office, where the Dumny Diak june 23.
asked me, If I had a mind to go for England? I told him, Yes. He told
me, that his Majesty was to send a letter to the King, and that I should
take that along with me. I replyed, that I had indeed, last yeare, desired
to be let of to England, but that now I had no necessity or businesse there ;
and that, if I should go about my owne business thither, I could not well
take such a letter with me, because it should be a shame for me to carry a
* [Samuel Collins, M.D., physician to the t [Woskresenskoje, forty versts from Mos-
Czar Alexis Michaelowitsch. He returned to cow.]
England, and published at London in 1671 a t [Wassily Jakowlewitsch Daschow.]
work on the ' Present State of Russia.']
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.