Related
1692] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 179 Patrick Gordon of Cults
1667] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 103 to me, desireing me to let him have him
174 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1692 be restored. As for Harie Gordon
170 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1690 delighted that he made the Boyars
176 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1692 just wages thrive. I think he may be summoned...
180 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1692 countrey. I entreat you to gett Watertowne
1689] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 165 memory, the younger Czar
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 163 and equity which I had on my syde
128 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 I was, because of hireing chaires or coaches
1653] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. U me that he was to stay tliere
Summary
Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
1653] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. U
me that he was to stay tliere ; whereat I seemed sorry, but he enquh'cing,
lighted upon other two fellowes, who were bound for Dantzick, to whom
he recommended me, and so we parted. These fellowes took a near by-
way, ferrying over many ditches, and passeing others upon planks; and
i-ame towards night to a village about a quarter of a mile from the river
Vistle. Here I lodged all night, supping on such ordinary fare as they use
there.
The next morning, I was not able to go any furtlier. 3Iy feet, not being
used to such hard travell, was full of blisters, and the gkinne off in many
places ; wherefor, going owt to the high way, which lay by the end of the
village, I waited upon some occasion of finding a waggon. Tliere droved
by, in short tyme, diverse waggons or kolesses, as they call them, none
whereof would take me along. At last came a very civill man, havelng
another sitting by him, at whom I asked In the best manner I could, if he
would take me along to Dantzik, and what he would take for fraught ; who,
first askeing halfe a dollar, at last told me he would take no less as a relchs-
ort ; which I promiseing, went to the inne, and paying for my supper, fetcht
my portmantle, and gott me upon the kolesse. Here, as every where, I
was troubled with questions, which I did not understand. Wee crossed the
AVlstle in a prumme, and gott to Dantzick by eleven acloak, being three
miles from the prumme ; where, paying my fraught, I went to seek out my
old lodging, which, after much wandrlng np and doAvne, I found, Avhere I
was kindly welcom'd by my landlady, who was a notable resolute woman.
Here I found my self in great anxiety and perplexity, not knowing Avhat
to begin ; for all the ships were gone, and so no hopes left of getting home to
my owne countrey ; no acquaintance of whom I could borrow any money to
subsist with untlll the next shipping ; my cloaths and llnnens beginning to
looke bare ; and, the worst of all, no person to whom I could reveale my
necessities, being bashfull and ashamed that any should know that I was re-
dacted to such streltgth. But my landlady guessing, by my retirednes and
melanchollous behaviour, my condition, began to presse me to declare my in-
tentions. I told her my resolution was to rcturne to my parents as soone as
I could •, which, my intention, she communicating to diverse of my contrey.
men who frequented that house, and wlthall, that she thought me to be scarce
of money ; so, the next day at dinner, these merchants began to perswade
me to turne merchant, to the which I, fynding my nature averse, answered
in fair termes, however, not being willing to dlsoblidgc any. They began
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.