Related
74 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1666 go from hence. So here wee lodged, and the next morning came to Dort
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]
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 163 and equity which I had on my syde
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 131 Htle way, and being four, wee hired a coach
1655] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 19 last night's engagement, I found myself in such a labirinth of perplexed thoughts
1667] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 99 I went to Altenaw and heard devotion
150 DIAEY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 Nethermuir. I went thereafter to the Links
1661] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 47 good earnest to consider how I might ridd myself of this countrey
1686] DIAEY OF PATHICK GORDON. ]4T In the morning, I walked and tooke a view of some places
Summary
Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
1686] DIAEY OF PATHICK GORDON. ]4T
In the morning, I walked and tooke a view of some places which I had June 29.
not seen ; and after long discussing with my brother about his accompts,
wee scarsely came to ane agreement, and some ffriends being come to see
me, wee tooke breakfast, and afterwards horse, and rode to New Deer
parish, some tfriends meeting me by the way. I first touched at Barak,*
then Knavin,* and so Achmunyell,* and befor evening, I came to Dalgaty,
where I found my Lordf but newly come home. He made me very
welkome. Wee supped merrily with good company.
Haveing walked untill about nyne a clock, afterwards wee did fall upon June 30,
our particular ,^: and after litlc scruples and difficulty, wee gott an end, my
Lord very nobly condiscendlng to all we desired. Wee dined with my
Lord verry merrily, among the most excellent discourses of a complect,
well bred lady ;§ and, indeed, all the civilities imaginable were showed me
by both those worthy persons. Haveing, with great satisfaction, taken my
leave, I made a visitt at Achry, || who was in company with us in Dalgatie,
and being nobly entertained, I rode to Achmunyell,^ Achridy,^and Nether-
mulr,^ where I made short vlsltts, and came to Barak,^ where I lodged.
After breakfast, I rode to Ellon, some tfriends haveing mett me by the July i.
way, so that wee were about thirty horse. Here I spoke with the Lairds of
Rothemay ** and Watcrtowne ft about my owne particulars, the last
whereof I visited in his house ; and being returned to Ellon, I, by a notar,
* [All three dwelling places of Gordons.] One of these shows that the new town of Edin-
t [The Ear! of Erroli.] burgh was projected so early as the yearlG93:
J I The lands of Anchleuchries were held by ' they design to build on the other syd of the
Gordon in feu-ferme, of the Earl of Erroli, for Nore Lt>ch, and to cast a bridge of stone over
a yearly rent of twelve pounds Scots. His it, jind to enclose that new tane in ground with
'particular' with the Earl was doubtless the a wall."]
arrangement of some question in their relation || [William Cuming, first of that name, laird
of lord and vassal.] of Auchry, had a Gordon for his first wife,
g [Lady Anne Drummond, countess of The lands of Auchvy were of old the patrimony
Erroli, only daughter of James, third earl of of the lionian Catholic family of Conn, whose
Perth. iShe is understood to be the authoress expatriated representatives appear to have
of 'An Account of T-uchan. and what is re- lived at I'aris till about the beginning of the
niarkable therein,' printed in the Collections eighteenth centuiy. Tlie tomb of a son of tliis
for a History of the Shires of Aberdeen and house, the author of the ' De Duplici Statu lic-
Banflf, pp. 'J4-'J7. A few letters written to her ligionis apud Scotos,' who died in IGIU, when
by her brother, in his exile, have been printed about to be made a Cardinal, is still to be seen
for the Camden Society, in the Correspondence in the Church of San Lorenzo in Damaso, at
of James, Earl of Perth, Lord Chancellor of Kome. His portrait is at Gordon Castle.]
Scotland, Lond. 184J. Four of her own t [All seats of Gordons]
letters are preserved in the Miscellany of the ** [John Gordon.]
Spalding Club, vol. v., pp. 193-200. It appears tt ['I'honias Forbes, son of Sir John Forbes
from these that she was in correspondence of Watertown, and iicplicw of the Earl of
with Bishop Burnet, and w'ith Dr. Turner, the Aberdeen. He claimed tlie office of Constable
deprived bishop of Ely. Some letters, ad- of Aberdeen, as an appurtenance of his lands
dressed to her. are published in the Miscellany of Carmucks, the old inheritance of the Ken-
of the Spalding Club, vol. ii.. pp. 293-29U. nedys.]
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.