Related
1666] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 79 I did writt to Sir John Hebden
110 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 I gave up my petition
1678] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 107 delivered to Gordon.
42 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1661 misfortune
126 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 religion* At night wee cast anchor
62 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1666 purpose to convoy
122 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 flesh was torren out of their armes
1667] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 97 storme, wee could not gett over to Embden
66 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1666 wee had from Plesko
76 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1666 the cart was ready
Summary
Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
76 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1666
the cart was ready, I gott the same people to put our baggage on the cart,
and, for joy, rewarded them Hberally. In tlie meane tyme, the captaines
wyfe being come, for she had tohl a long formall story to the officer at the
gate, wee set forward to the other gate, which we found shutt, wherewith
I was a litle troubled ; but the carter telleing me that, how soone as the
preaching was done, it would be opened, to avoid examination and telling
a ly, 1 went into a brandewine house, and called for brandy, which, not
being able to drink, I spilled unperceived, leaving the captaines wyfe to keep
discourse with the guards, which she could very well do, being a notable,
talkative, witty woman.
The gate being opened, wee went forward, the captaines wyfe with her
litle child on the cart or carr, and I, with the rest, on foot. About a mile oif,
wee came to Middleburg, where, at first, wee were detained by a Hollander,
and at the other end of the towne by a Spaniard, who would needs searche
us for merchandise, and from the last, with a great deale of trouble, wee
came free. Being come about three miles, wee entred Bruges, where, at the
gate, wee were questioned from whence wee came. Wee, as the fuirman
had instructed us, said wee came from Ardenburg, that being clear of the
pest, but Sluis infected. Being entred the gate, wee gott a great company of
boyes after us, crying Geuse ! Geuse ! which is a name they give to the Pro-
testants here, all who come from the United Provinces being supposed to be
such, albeit there be in Hollands not few less Roman Catholickes as Pro-
testants, especially in Amsterdam.
This citty is the best built of any in Flanders, and the citizens the most
gentile of all the Low Countreyes. It is fortifyed with a stone and earthen
wall, and large ditches, hath a very wholesome aire, and, by a new digged
chanuell, can receive vessels of foure hundred tunne.
ist 23. Haveing lodged with good convenience, I hired a waggon to Ostend.
On the way wee found one of our Kings yachts at anker, who had aboard,
albeit he would not be knowne, Mr Kyvet, one of the States Generall, who
was fled for keeping correspondence with England, and interessed in the
business of Ruitmaster Buat. I went into the alehouse, where the captain
of the yacht was, and was very pressing to take me aboard ; but he refused,
under pretence that he durst not, being sent expressly about his Majesties
business, and so durst not take in any passengers. So I went forward
towards Ostend, and, getting a boat, ferryed over the haven, wherein, at this
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.