Related
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 121 wee hyred fresh horses, haveins
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 131 Htle way, and being four, wee hired a coach
1686] DIAHY OF PATRICK GORDON. 151 pleasure, wee shall heartily embrace it. And so wee pray God
126 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 religion* At night wee cast anchor
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 141 Being invited to devotion and dinner, by my Lord Chancellour
146 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [168G Haveing dyned, and hearing my trunks were come from Edinburgh
136 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 Queens hand; whereat his Majestic smileing
1689] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 165 memory, the younger Czar
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 143 Gordon, and as much to the Lord Chancellour
1686] DIAEY OF PATRICK GORDON. 157 Vloizka,* where wee dined, and gott fresh horses
Summary
Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
1686] DIAEY OF PATRICK GORDON. 157
Vloizka,* where wee dined, and gott fresh horses, paying for each . .
Wee came ten vcrst further, and by a litle monastery, dedicated to St.
Nicolaus, wee crossed the river Twcrctsf the first tyme, through woods the
most part of the way, being bridged to the village Cholocliolka, through
which runneth a brooke of the same name ; and haveing the river Twerets
on our left hand, wee went foure verst further, and baited in the fields, and
six verst further, wee crossed the Twerets againe, by the village Widropusk
which belongeth to the Ivcrsky Monastery. Here is the border of the
Dukedome of Novogrodt, and beginneth the Novo Torsky district. Wee
travelled all night.
About seven aclock, wee came to Torshok, where wee dined. This is a August :
very pleasant countrey. Wee had excellent way, seventeen verst, to the
river Logovisha, which wee crossed at the village Marina; and thirteen
verst further, wee crossed the river Twerets the third tyme, at the village
Medna, where wee supped. Here endeth the Novo Torsky district, and
beginneth the Dukedome of Twere. Wee tooke jorney about midnight, and
befor day, fed our horses by a monastery, fyve verst short of Twere, and
twenty fyve from Medna.
About sunriseing, wee came to the ferry, and crossing the river Volga, August '.
wee breakfast in the Yempsky Slobod, where getting fresh horses, and with
good weather, came and baited by the village Gorodisha, which is from
Twere . . . verst. Here hath been a fort for preserving the passages
on the river Volga, which wee had here all along on our left hand.
Fyfteen verst further, wee crossed on a float the river Moskna, by a village
of the same name, and fyfteen vcrst further, to the village Zavidova, and
about fyve verst further, fed the horses in the fields.
By day hght, wee set forward by the village Spass, and dined by the August 3
river Zamoga, and then to Klin, which is ninety of the old verst from
Mosko, and of the new but thirty nine. Here wee crossed the river Sustra ;
and through very badd way, and crossing the same river againe, three vcrst
further, wee came to Moshna, a village, twelve verst, and so on to Pcshky,
where wee rested till midnight.
Being good weather, and indifferent way, wee set forward, and dined August 3
fyve verst short of Czlrkishowa ; and so on came to the Stranger Sloboda,j:
about fyve a clock afternoone.
* [NVyschnij Wolotschok.] f [Twerza.] { [Of Moscow.]
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.