Related
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 141 Being invited to devotion and dinner, by my Lord Chancellour
1667] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. lOl with their officers, from which 1 diswaded them, that the Emperour
1667] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 87 Dined by Mr. Carril his father
1667] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 95 After breakfast, I went to Greenwich, Sir John [Hebden]
1667] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 99 I went to Altenaw and heard devotion
122 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 flesh was torren out of their armes
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 155 Crossing the Black River
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 127 with severall necessaryes, and having received from Mr. Meverell
174 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1692 be restored. As for Harie Gordon
144 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 I was in the towne at dinner with diverse noblemen, where the Earle of Eglintowne
Summary
Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
144 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686
I was in the towne at dinner with diverse noblemen, where the Earle of
Eglintowne desired me to take his sonne, Mr. John,* along with me to
Russia.
Diverse acts were ratifyed in the Parliament. I went and saw Heriots
Worke, and, in the evening, were very merry, with the Earles of Erroll and
Marshall, and the Lord Collington ;t haveing dined this day by Generall
Drummond.
The Parliament being adjourned to the seventeenth of August next, the
Lord Commissioner made preparations to be gone.
I dined in towne, sent my trunks a ship board, with my servant Daniell,
and, in the evening, past the tyme with Sir Thomas Dalyell.:]: The Earle
of Aberdeen went north.
The Lord High Commissioner went from Edinburgh, being convoyed
by most of the nobility, and with many volleyes of great and small shot. He
lodged in Haddingtowne all night, and I tooke up my lodging with the
Viscount Kenmoir.§
In the morning, I went and visited the Duke of Lawderdale his tombe,||
and afterwards waited on the Duke, from whome I went and tooke my
leave of my Lord Commissioner, who gave me a very high complement.
After breakfast, wee returned and visited the Pallace of Seaton, and were
merry in Preston, and came in good tyme to Edinburgh.
I tooke my leave of the Dukes of Hamilton and Queensbury, the
Marquesse of Athole, and other noblemen. I dined at home, and in the
evening were merry with some noblemen.
I dined by the Lord Chancellour, and tooke my leave of his Lordship,
and then made a progresse in takeing my leave of other noblemen and
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.