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46 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1661 come into the field, wee found the Boyar there before us
Summary
Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
46 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1661
come into the field, wee found the Boyar there before us, who ordered us to
take upplkeand musquets (being there ready) and show how wee could handle
our amies ; wherewith being- surprized, I told him, that if T had knowne of
this, I should liave brought forth one of my boyes, who perhaps could
handle armes better as I myself; adding, that it was the least part of an
officer to know how to handle armes, conduct being the most materiall.
Whereat, he, takeing me up short, told me, that the best cdIoucU comeing
into this countrey must do so ; to which I reply ed, Seing it is the fashion, I
am content. And so haveing handled the pike and musket, with all their
postures, to his great satisfaction, I returned.
On Moonday, it was ordered that 1 should be enrolled for maior, Pawl
Menezes for captaine, William Hay for lievtemiant, and John Hamilton for
ensignie, to foot, under the regiment of Colonell Daniell Crawfuird, and a
gratuity for our comeing in or welcome to the countrey, being to me
twenty fyve rubles in money, and as much in sables, foure ells of cloth, and
eight ells of damask ; the rest accordingly, and our monthly pay equall with
others of these charges. But the chancellour,* being a most corrupt fellow,
delayed us from day to day in expectation of a bribe, which is not only
usuall here, but, as they think, due ; whereof I haveing no information, after
expostulateing with him twice or thrice, and receiving no satisfactory
. answers, I went to the Boyar and complained ; who, with a light check,
ordered him againe, which incensing the Diack more, he delayed us still.
But when, after a second complaint and order wee received no satisfaction,
I went a third tyme to the Boyar, and very confidently told him, 1 knew not
whither he or the Diack had the greatest power, seing he did not obey his
so many orders. Whereat, the Boyar, being vexed, caused stop his coach (he
being on his way out of the towne to his countrey house) and caused call the
Diack ; whom, being come, he tooke by the beard and shak'd him three or
foure tymes, telling him, if I complained againe, he would cause knutc him
The Boyar being gone, the Diack came to me, and began to scold 5 and I,
without any respect (whereof they gett but ever too much here), payed him
home in his owne coync, telling him that I cared not whither they gave me
any thing or no, if they would but permitt me to go out of the countrey
againe. With which resolution I went to tlic Slobod, and now began in
* [That is, as Gordon iinmediaiely afterwards calk him, the dyuh, or scribe.]
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.
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