APPENDIX. 217 Sasine of Alexander Gordon on Aiichleuchries,
Summary
Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
APPENDIX. 217
Sasine of Alexander Gordon on Aiichleuchries, presented on the 5th Angnst, 1730. — {From the
Particular Register of Seisins for Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire, vol. xxii., foil. 478, 479.)
65 By chaiter, dated at Slains on the first of Jlay, 1730, JIary, countess of Erroll, lady Hay and
Slains, Great Constable of Scotland, with consent of Alexander Hay of Delgaty, her husband,
granted to Alexander Gordon of Auchleuchries, the lands of Easter and Wester Auehleuchries,
with the Muirtack and Mill of Auchleuchries (resigned by Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries in
favour of the said Alexander Gordon of Auchleuchries), excepting that part of the Muirtack
disposed by the deceased John Gordon of Auchleuchries to Jaraes Gordon of Ellon ; and ratified
all former writs, and specially a contract as to the teinds of the said lands, dated the loth and
18th December, 1648, between Gilbert, earl of Erroll, and John Gordon of Auchleuchries.
Sasine was given on the 10th of July, 1730.
Sasine, Alexander Gordon, on annualrent out of Auchleuchries, presented on 5 August, 1730.—
(From the Particular Begister of Seisins for Aberdeenshire and Kineardineshii-e, vol. xxii., foil.
479, 480.)
66 By disposition, dated at Aberdeen on the 28th day of May, 1724, John Gordon, brother german
to Patrick Gordon, some time of Auchleuchries, with consent of the now deceased Elizabeth
Grant, his mother, granted to Alexander Gordon, then of Sandend, now of Auchleuchries, an
annual rent of twenty five merks Scots, (corresponding to the principal sum of five hundred
merks), out of the lands of Westertoun of Auchleuchries, with the croft on the Mains of Auch.
leuchries. Sasine was given on the 18th July, 1730.
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.