Related
170 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1690 delighted that he made the Boyars
1686] DIAEY OF PATRICK GORDON. 113 I gott our landlord to conduct
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 163 and equity which I had on my syde
1692] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 179 Patrick Gordon of Cults
1689] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 165 memory, the younger Czar
168 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1690 The twenty-eiglith of January
42 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1661 misfortune
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 155 Crossing the Black River
186 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1697 put out the white flag
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 153 our kind Scots
Summary
Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 153
our kind Scots ffriends. Wee lioysed saile, and, with a moderate gale,
came so farr as the road of Copcuhaven, where, being a great calme, wee
anchored. This shipp, called the Paradis ; the skipper, William Buck, be-
longing to Yarmouth.
By day light, wee weighed anchors and set forward, and with a ordinary July 2
wind passed by the illands Amach and . . . being in company with
some other ships, who were bound to diverse places. Befor evening, wee
passed by Falsterboom.
Haveing a pretty gale, wee passed by the illands Borne and Erdholme ;
but in the evening, the wind proveing easterly, wee were forced to hold
over to the Pomers coast, and so continued some dayes, laboreing too and
agaiue without any memorable accident, untill the . . . when wee had July 2ti
a sight of land which, by calculation, wee judged to be the sands by east of
the Memell, and the place called Pologna and Heiligen Aa.
Wee labored up along the coast of Churland, without being certaine July 27
how farr wee were.
Wee had a sight of land which wee thought to be Wendaw, but towards July ■>&
night found it to have been Libaw.
Wee passed by the Wendaw, and so in by the Domesness, with a good July 29
gale, haveing Oesel on our left hand, and so holding within the Riffe, wee
unadvisedly turned of to the right hand, and so in a bought of land were
becalmed all the next day. July 30
With a slow wind wee made towards the road, and about one a clock August
gott into the harbour within the river. Wee went ashoar, and gave
account what wee were, which was needles, and better wee should have
exspccted aboard their asking of us. Wee went along up the river with a
slow gale, and, in the evenmg, anchored within a large halfe mile of Riga.
At sunriseing, wee tooke boate, and landed at Riga, going in at the August.
Water Gate. I came to my former lodging without being questioned by
the watch, which was, I think, because my servants had the same livery,
blew and yellow, as the Sweds have. With halfe an houre, an officer came
to my quarters enqulreing what I was, and what gate I came in, whereof
haveing received satisfaction, he departed. I payed for dyet and victualls
to the skipper at the rate of twenty shillings sterling for each person,
masters and servants.
I did writt to the Earle of Perth and Viscount ]Mclfort in a coverto to August 4
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.