Related
1699] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 193 ' A number of Strelitzes were executed
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 163 and equity which I had on my syde
170 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1690 delighted that he made the Boyars
1692] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 179 Patrick Gordon of Cults
42 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1661 misfortune
186 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1697 put out the white flag
202. UNDER-OFFICER of the Artillery Regiment, from 1720 to 1728
138 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 to a coachman, to bring the trunke
168 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1690 The twenty-eiglith of January
178 DIARY OF PATEICK G0RD0J4. [1692 responsable persons upon bonds
Summary
Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
178 DIARY OF PATEICK G0RD0J4. [1692
responsable persons upon bonds bearing annuall rents, and the said bonds
written in my name, and to be given in keeping to my uncle, James
Gordon of Westertowne, and my cousin, John Gordon of Nethermuir, or to
any other to whom they shall advise and agree to be given unto. And
because, in this couutrey, wee are ignorant of the formes and termes of law
in Scotland, so have I subscrived foure sheets of paper battered together,
l)oth on the margins at the glcAving or battering, and at the bottome, befor
the same witnesses that this is subscrived, to witt, Maior Generall Pawl
Menezes, Colonell Alexander Liviston, and Maior Hary Gordon, desireing
that the said blank sheets be filled up, conforme to the Scottish formes, with
the contents hereof, being a full and free disposition of the heritable rights
of all the lands of Achluichries to my son, John Gordon, reserving only for
my and my wifes liferent the two pleughs of Easter Achluichries and two
thousand punds Scottish in manner as above, and that a bond of provision,
and such other instruments requisite and usuall in law be made and taken
and delivered into the custody of my unkle, James Gordon of Westertowne,
and John Gordon of Nethermuir, or in any others hands in whose they shall
advise and agree with the Earlc of Aberdeen : constituteing for my proctors,
James Gordon of Westertowne, John Gordon of Nethermuir, Patrick
Gordon of Cults, these or any two of them ; and the bond of provision and
the writeing for the three hundred merks to be registrate. So given at
Mosco, the eleventh of January, in the yeare of our redemption 1692.
THE EXACT COPY OF THE DISPOSITION SENT TO SCOTLAND.
Be it knowne to all men by thir presents, that I, Patrick Gordon of
Achluichries, Generall over the Selected Regiments of their Imperiall
Majesties of All Russia, do hereby fully and freely dispone, and give over, to
my eldest son, John Gordon, the hereditary right of all the lands of
Achluichries, lying within the parish of Crowden, in the shire of Aberdeen,
in Scotland ; reserving for me and my wife, dureing our. naturall lives, the
summe of three hundred merks Scottish money yearly ; and for the more
security thereof, my wyfc, Elisabeth Born Roonaer, to be infeft in the lands
of the two pleughs of Easter Achluichries ; which summe of three hundred
merks yearly, is to be payed at the terme of Whitesunday next, and so,
yearly, so long as 1 and my wyfe liveth ; and to be punctually delivered to
my uncle, James Gordon of Westertowne, John Gordon of Nethermuir, and
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.