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136 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 Queens hand; whereat his Majestic smileing
Summary
Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
136 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686
Queens hand; whereat his Majestic smileing, was pleased to conduct me
to the Queen, who was sittina; at a table with some ladies at cardes 5 and
the King acquainting her, beckoned to me to come nearer, where I had the
honour to kiss Her Majesties hand ; which gave occasion of discourse to the
nobility and courtiers, some saying, This gentleman hath gott a fine intro-
ductor indeed. The King, in passing by, was pleased to say to rae, You must
not stay long there, and wee shall write to the Tzaars about you. Prince
Georn' being in the same roome, I went and tooke my leave of his Royall
Hiiihness, in a short complement, first in Dutch, and then in English ; to the
which he made litle answer* I went to my lodging, and haveing payed for
my horses and my self, six shillings six pence, and wages, two groats, and
sleeped about foure houres, I tooke horse, and returned to London, and made
ready to be gone ; and the same day tooke my leave of my Lord Melfort,
and diverse other noblemen. Payed for dinner, nineteen pence ; for coffy,
foure pence ; to my servant, six pence, and at night, two shillings.
I tooke my leave of my Lord Middleton,t and diverse others. I heard
devotion at the Venetian Ambassadours, and dined with many ffriends at
the Dutch house, by St. .Jameses, and were merry, where it cost me eleven shil-
lings. At night, wee did meet with some ffriends at a taverne, and were very
merry, where, contrar to expectation, Sir Robert Gordon^ payed the shott.
I rose early, and payed in n)y lodging, for lodging, six shillings ; wages,
two shillings ; for horse meat, nine shillings ; for ale, fourteen pence ; wages
to the ostler, one shilling. And so, takeing leave of the kind people of the
house, I, with the Laird of Lochyiell, called Sir Ewin Cameron,§ tooke
coach and went to Smithfield, where wee fitted our selves with some small
things, for which I payed here, three shillings ten pence ; for breakfast with
my cousin Alexander, two shillings four pence; and for horse meat, a
shilling. About midday, we tooke jorney, and came to Waltham Crosse,
twelve miles, where we rested, and payed for our selves and horses, two
shillings six pence.
* ['I have tried Prince Georpre soher.' said troversy between the Camerons and the
King t liarles II., 'and I have tried him druniv; Gordons. On this occasion, .MacConnel Dhui
andrdrunix or sdIicv, there is nothing in liiin.'] was bacl^ed by the powerful influence of his
t [('h;irles, second Eaii t.t MiUdieton. in the brotlier-in-hiw, Hoi.ert Marc ay, the author of
peerage of >ci.tland, one ot tlie principal the Apology for the Qual^ers. His Jacobite
Secretaries of .--tate lor Enghmd ] biographer has conccided that I-ochie) him-
J [Of Gordonstoun. ^ee ahov^, p. 128 ] self was believed to regard the Friends not
3 [Lociiiel was at Court on the business of without favour, and that one of his daughters
his lauds la Lochaber— an old cause of con- was a member of their Society.]
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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