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130 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 from the fort by all the cannon
Summary
Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
130 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686
from the fort by all the cannon, as also from all the ships, comehig downe
the river and the Tower at partuiir; but the yacht wherem I was bein:^
p-one farr downe, wee recovered another, and was taken in, and so sailed
downe till within some miles of Sherness. This day, expended for break-
fast two shillings six pence ; for coach hire, eighteen pence ; for oares to
the yaclit, one shilling ; for oares from Tilberry to the yacht, a shilling.
About six a clock, the King went ashoare to Shirness, and went round
the fortifications, and, being in the top of a tower, asked me what I thoui>ht
of the fortress ? I answered, that it was exceeding well contrived, and well
furnished, and that I wondered how the Dutch durst advsnture up towards
Chattam,* haveing such obstacles in their way. The King said. No, you
are mistaken ; there was no such thing as this then, only a small skonce, and
ill furnished. I replyed, that it gave me greater cause to wonder that such
a considerable station for ships should have been, in such a tyme, so ill se-
cured. The King replyed. You say well ; Indeed, they have learned us
wltt. And being come into the governours house, and takeing a standing
breakfast, he asked me many more things, as what amies we used in Russia?
and what discipline ? as also what family of the Gordons I was of? if of the
Aberdeens family? and many other things. The King made hast aboard,
and, our yacht boat being gone, I hired a pair of oares, which, because of
the contrar wind, could not gett rowed up to the yachts, who were all under
saile ; which the King seeing, sent the boat himself was brought aboard in to
take me in, which put me aboard of one of the yachts, which cost me fyve
shillings. Wee plyed u;i the river Medway to Chattam, where going
ashoare, the King was saluted, as at Shirnesse, by all the cannons from the
forts and shlpps. The King viewed the shipps which were a building, and
then see fyve companies of CoUonell Kirks regiment exercized ; the Lieve-
tennant Collonell, who exercised them, being on horseback, and the King,
with all his attendants, on foot. The King missed six men out of the com-
pany of grenadiers, which the Llevetennant Collonell excused. The King,
haveing dined here, went aboard of his yacht, which, in comehig up, had
broken 1 er boyersprit on one of the great ships, whereof many lay in this
river ; and all the forts were now so well furnished with cannon, that neither
Dutch nor devil dare adventure againe. I walked on foot to the towne, a
* [In June, 1667.]
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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