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xvi PREFACE. versation, at Hamburg, with Queen Christina of Sweden,
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Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
xvi PREFACE.
versation, at Hamburg, with Queen Christina of Sweden, we are
informed that it histed thirty minutes, but we have not a syllable
of what was said.'^" So, again, all the stages of a journey, on horse-
back, from London to Edinburgh, in company with Lochiel, are
carefully recounted, but we gather nothing more of the renowned
Sir Evan Dhu than that his nag broke down at Huntingdon.^'
However this tantalising brevity may be deplored, its excuse
is obvious enough ; and we should rather marvel at the journalist's
persevering assiduity in writing so much than blame him for not
writing more. Nor curt or trivial as many pages of his Diary
are, must all such portions be pronounced wholly uninteresting. Some
little instruction or amusement may be gleaned, at times, even from
his accounts of prices, as when at London in 1686, he notes the cost
of every article of his apparel, from a peruke at seven pounds to
shoes at five shillings a-pair ; records that he paid a shilling to the
barber *for trimming him;' that he gave a penny for a newspaper;
that the charge for a bottle of wine in a tavern was sixteen pence ;
that once he had a cup of tea*'* for a penny, although he oftener
paid fourpence or sixpence ; that a dining-room, a bedroom, and a
servant's room could be hired in Pall Mall for eleven shillings
a-week; that in Edinburgh, the charge for a servant's meal was
-"P. 100. p 100. edit. Lond. 1851.) Gordon may,
" Pp. 136, 137. possibly, have became acquainted with tea in
^'^ Pp. 126-13^. Tea, not once named by Kussia. His son-in-law tells us, what, in-
GordonduringhisfirstvisittoLondonin 1666. deed, is easily gathered from his Journal,
was used by him daily during his second that he had no groat liking for stronger po-
visit in 1686. Pepys writes in 1660, '1 did tations : ' General Gordon was a sober man,
send for a cup of tee (a China drink), of which in a country where drinking is much in
1 never had drank before ; ' and records as fasliion ; and though he used to be much in
something unusual, in June, 1667, that on the Czar's company, his Majesty, knowing
going home he found his wife making tea, his inclinations, would never allow him to be
'a drink which Mr. Felling the pothicary urged.' — (Gordon's History of Peter the
tells her is good for her cold and defluxions.' Great, vol. i. p. 138.)
— (Pcpys' Diary, vol. i. p. 137; vol. iv.
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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