Related
42 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1661 misfortune
146 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [168G Haveing dyned, and hearing my trunks were come from Edinburgh
110 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 I gave up my petition
1661] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 47 good earnest to consider how I might ridd myself of this countrey
1667] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 97 storme, wee could not gett over to Embden
126 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 religion* At night wee cast anchor
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 131 Htle way, and being four, wee hired a coach
170 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1690 delighted that he made the Boyars
74 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1666 go from hence. So here wee lodged, and the next morning came to Dort
DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1651 ■wards nl<::lit, notwithstanding it was calme and misty, wee weighed anchor
Summary
Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
(^ DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1651
■wards nl<::lit, notwithstanding it was calme and misty, wee weighed anchor,
and, with the tvde, made a slow passage. Abont sunsett it cleared up,
whereof, haveing notice below deck, wee made hast above, and, with many
siirhes and teares. bidd our native country farewell, which even then seemed
to be in a mourning for our departure ; but shortly, by a brisk gale of
westerlv wind, wee were deprived of all sight thereof. Haveing, to ease
our minds, laid our selves down to rest, wee were called up by the noise
Avhich the mariners made, because of some shippes approaching, who, being
come near, were knowne to be Hollanders. They inquired what wee were V
from whence come ? and whither bound '? To all which, receiving satistaction,
thev askd if wee had any Parliament men aboard V and if wee had seen an
English shipp which had escaped them in the mist ? To both which was
answered. No ; so after salutation with great gunnes, according to the manner
at sea, we parted, keeping our coiu*se east and by north two dayes with a
favorable gale. Then wee -were by contrary winds forced very farr to the
north, and after two weekes. had a sight of Norway. The wind then beeing
a little better, we sailed along that coast, passing by the Nais to Skagen in
.lutland, then by the illand Lezow, the Trindell, and the litle illand Amout,
then by a rock called the Kole, w-here the skippers exact a discretion of
everv one who hath not passed that way befor. The mariners are
ordinarilv lett downe thrice into the sea. Wee came in the evening to the
roade befor Elsenure, and anchored about halfe a Dutch mile from the
strand or shore
The next dav wee went ashore, and dined in a Scotsman's house very
well for twelve pence a man, and at night returned to the shipp. On the
morrow, about noone. the shipp being cleared, wee holsed saile. and made
good wav, with a fresh gale, by tlie lUands Ween and Roan on our left
hand, and the city Copenliagen, the King of Denmark's residence, on our
right, holding our course by Valsterboom and the illand Boraholme over
to the coast of Pomereil.
July 18. On the eighteenth Julv, new stile, wee had a slirht of the coast. In the
evening was a great calme, and in the night great raine and thunder, so
that wee made no way. The next day wee passed by the Heel, and a lltle
after, began to throw out our ballast, which was sand and stones. The
next day being also calme, and being near the shore, wee were towed near
the land by boats, and anchored before the ]Munde. a strong fort. Some of
us went ashore, and walked to Dantzick on foot, being a Dutch mile from
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.