Related
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 163 and equity which I had on my syde
150 DIAEY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 Nethermuir. I went thereafter to the Links
144 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 I was in the towne at dinner with diverse noblemen, where the Earle of Eglintowne
1667] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 99 I went to Altenaw and heard devotion
1689] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 165 memory, the younger Czar
146 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [168G Haveing dyned, and hearing my trunks were come from Edinburgh
1661] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 43 Wee rose early, and, towards eveniug, came to Kokenliausen
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 131 Htle way, and being four, wee hired a coach
1661] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 47 good earnest to consider how I might ridd myself of this countrey
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 149 I went and see the Colledge in the Old Towne,
Summary
Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 149
I went and see the Colledge in the Old Towne, and was very well July
received, and showed all worth the sceeing- there. I went to the Linkcs after-
wards. In the evening, the Earle of Aberdeen came, to whom I payed a visitt.
I was invited to a collation by the Lord Provost and Magistrates, where, July
with my ffriends, I was heartily entertained, and all my relations who were
there made burgesses * My sister and sisters in law being come into the
towne to see me, wee made very merry with good musick.
1 did writt to the Duke of Gordon, and to some ffriends in Edinburgh, juiy
and mad some visitts in the towne. My ffriends tooke their leave, and
went home. In the morning, 1 went over Dee, and to St. Fiacres Church .f
The Laird of Watertowne being come to towne, wee did fall to talke of July
a composition concerning the Muii-take, he desireing a tollerance of mosse
for his lyfe tyme, and I, being pers waded by Aberdeen, promised it for
seven yeares ; whereof he not allowing, wee broke of.
This afternoone, I made some visitts, and walked in the evening, and at July
night passed the tyme with the Earle of Aberdeen.
The Earle of Aberdeen, with my Lady, went from hence. In the July
evening, the Earle Marshall^ came to towne, whom I visittcd, he comeiug
over to my lodging, where supped, and were merry.
In the morning, I tooke my leave of the Earle Marshall, who went July ;
north. In the afternoone, Nethermuir, older and yonger, went from hence,
I haveing given a factory for my effaires to my unkle, and the yonger
* [The burgh register places this event on f [The parish church of Nigg, on the south
the seventh of July : _ bank of the Dee, was dedicated to St. Fithak,
'Eodem die, m presentia Prcpositi, Bali- Fiack, or Fiacre, an Irish recluse of the seventh
vorum, Decani Glide, et Thesaurarii dicti century, long held in great veneration iu
burgi, Joannes Gordon in Westertoun [de] France. In 1641, Anne of Austria made a
Achlouchvies, Joannes Gordon filius natu pilgrimage on foot to his shrine in the cathe-
maximus excelleutis viri Domini Patricii Gor- dral of Meaux ; and the eloquent Bossuet in-
don de Achlouchries, GeneralisLocumtenentis vckcd his protection for l.ouis XIV., when
sub hmperatonbus Iv'ussie, et Jacobus Gordon undergoing a surgical operation. The French
filius secundo genitus Joaunis Gordon in Wes- hackney coach received its name of fiacre,
tertoune de Achlouchries [recepti fuerunt in from an image of the saint, hung up for a
burgenses glide burgi de Aberdeen."] sign by one Nicolas Sauvage, who was the first
The cost ot the collation appears from the in Piiris to hire out carriages bv the hour or
Guildry Accounts:— day. So lately as the year 1G30, the kirk
' Item of the expenssis of wax and parch- session of Aberdeen ordained that any one re-
ment for the burges actis of John Gordone ot pairing to St Fiacke"s well, in the bay of Nigg,
Auchleuchries, John Gordone, sone to Live- 'in a superstitious manner, seeking health to
tennant Generall Gordone, and of James Gor- themselves or bairns,' should be punished with
dune, sone to Auchleuchries, £1 4s Od the punishment due to fornication ]
'Item of the expenssis of wyne, etc. de- + [George, eighth I'.arl Marischal. succeeded
bursed with the magistiats and utlieris with his brother in Kiul, and died in ICUi lie had
them, at making them burgessis of the toune, served in the French army, and distinguished
£31 12s. 6d.'] himself in the battle of Worcester in 1651 ]
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.