Related
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 141 Being invited to devotion and dinner, by my Lord Chancellour
1655] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 19 last night's engagement, I found myself in such a labirinth of perplexed thoughts
1666] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 69 evening, wee sailed by it, and Bornholme
170 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1690 delighted that he made the Boyars
1692] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 179 Patrick Gordon of Cults
1667] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 99 I went to Altenaw and heard devotion
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 163 and equity which I had on my syde
74 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1666 go from hence. So here wee lodged, and the next morning came to Dort
1667] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 103 to me, desireing me to let him have him
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 145 ffriends ; and in the evening, were merry with my Lord Dumferling
Summary
Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 145
ffriends ; and in the evening, were merry with my Lord Dumferling,
Licvcteunaut Collouell Buchan,* and Coxstowne.f
I went early and tooke my leave of the Duke, who excused his not June 21.
convoying me to Lieth as he intended, by reason of his indisposition. And
so takcing' coach, I was convoyed by many fFriends to Lieth, where brcack-
fasting, and takelug leave of fFriends, I tooke boat, and crossed to Burnt
Uland, where, hyreing a horse for one of my servants, with a guide, I rode
to Dagatie,f four miles, and there tooke my leave of the Lady Dumfcrling,§
who tooke me exceeding kindly. I rode from thence to Kirkaldy, where I
had notice that the ship wherein my trunks were had this day weighed
ankor from the roade. I lodged in Kennoway.
I came to Cowper in a very rainy day, and crossed the ferry at Dundee June 22.
where I made no great stay, havelug dined on the other syde, and came to
Ardbroath, where I rested and baited the horses. At the Redhouse, Sir Georg
Skeenii and Baily Adie^ overtook me, and wee lodged together in Montrose.
Wee crossed the Northwater,** and through Bervy by Steenhave, and June 23.
dined in Cowy, it being all the tyme a deluge of raine. At the Bridge of
Dee, wee drank a glasse of wine, and about four a clock, came to Aberdeen,
and lodged in the Katherine Raes. Many fFriends came to see me. I
dispatched a post for my sonne.
My unklc,tt brother John, and my sonne, came, and many ffriends in June 24,
the towne came to see me.
* [Thomas Buclian, a younf^cr son of the IMarquis of Huntly, and sister of the first Duke
house of Anchmacoy, in Aberdeenshire, was of Gordon.]
horn about the middle of the seventeenth || [Sir George Skene of Fin tray, for many
century. After serving in France and Holland, years Lord Provost of Aberdeen, and repre-
he was appointed a lieutenant-colonel by King sentative of the city in Parliament He was
Charles II., in 1682. By King James II , he knighted by the Duke of York, at Holvrood,
was made colonel in 1086, and major-general in 1681]
in 1689. In the following year, after the death ^ [Sir John Lauder says that Bailie Ad}-, in
of Dundee at Killiecrankie. and the repulse of Aberdeen, was conspicuous, along with Mr.
General Cannon at Dunkeld, he was des- Thomas Gordon, and Sir William Patcrson.
patched from Ireland to take command of the for importunity in soliciting members of
Jacobite forces in Scotland; but within a few I'arliament to support the bill for repealin?
weeks after his arrival, was surprised and de- the penal laws against the Koman CiithoHcs
feated by Sir Thomas Livingstone. He sur- (FountainhairsHistoricalNotices, pp. 73.% 7.07 ;
vived the year 1721, and died at Ardlogie, on Cf. Miscellany of the Spalding Club, vol. 11
the banks of his native Ythan. There is a p. 295.)]
portrait of him at Anchmacoy.] ** [The North Esk ]
t [Alexamler Innes of Coxtoun. He was ft [His father's brother, James Gordon of
one of the representatives of the shire of Elgin, the Eastside of the \Vesterto\vn of Auchleuch-
and a Lord of the Articles, in the Parliament rics. He was afterwards entrusted, by General
of lG8fi.] Patrick Gordon, with the charge of ids affairs
X [Delgaty.] in Scotland.]
§ [Lady Jean Gordon, daughter of the third
U
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.