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APPENDIX. AUCHLEUCHRIES CHARTERS
Summary
Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
APPENDIX.
AUCHLEUCHRIES CHARTERS.
When in Scotland in July, 1686, Gordon records that he ' caused draw up a register or list of all
the charters and papers he had on the lands of Achluichries, beginning from a.d. 1423 to this
present year, of forty five peeces, besides small.' This register has not been recovered ; but in
the following pages an attempt is made to supply its place from the public records and other
sources— room being made also for a few charters which show the earlier generations of the
family of Pitlurg, from which Gordon drew his lineage.
Confirmacio carte Domini Walteri Moygne de terra de Ochluchry.— (A.D. 1370. From the, Regist-
rum Magni Sigilli, lib. i., no. 272.)
1 Dauid Dei gracia Rex Scottorum . . . Sciatis nos approbasse , . . donacionem illam et vendi-
cionem quas Johannes de Bona Villa de Balhelvy fecit Waltero Moygne militi de terra sua de
Ochluchry cum pertinenciis iacente infra dominium de Ardendracht in vicecomitatu de Abir-
dene . . . Apud Perth xxiij«'o die Octobris anno regni nostri quadragesimo primo .
Confirmacio carte Johannis Fraser de terris de Balhelvy Boneville cum tenandia de Achlochery.
— (A.D. 1389 et A.D. 1400. From Collections on the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff, pp. 'J89, 290.)
2 Robertus Dei gracia Eex Scotorum . . . Sciatis nos quandam cartam Johannis Bonvile filii et
heredis quondam Johannis Bonvile de Balhelvy Bonvile factam . . . dilecto nostro et fideli
Johanni Fraser de Forglen . . . inspexisse ad plenum in hec verba Omnibus banc cartam
visuris uel audituris Johannes de Boneville filius et heres quondam Johannis de Boneville de
Balhelvy Boneville etemam in Domino salutem / Vestra nouerit vniuersitas me dedisse . . .
nobili viro Johanni Fraser domino de Forglen omnes terras meas de Balhelvy Boneville
Colynstoun et duas villas de Ardendrachtys vna cum tenandiis suis de Blaretoun de Many et
de Achlochery cum pertinenciis in vicecomitatu de Aberdene pro quadam summa pecunie michi
. . . persoluta / Tenendas et habendas . . . de domino de Balhelvy Berclay domino superiori
dictarum terrarum et tenandiarum in feodo et hereditate a me et heredibus meis . . . Faciendo
inde annuatim . . . tres sectas curie ad tria placita capitalia tenenda apud Balhelvy Berclay
cum seruicio forinseco domini nostri Regis ... In cuius rei testimonium prescnti carte mee
sigillum meum apposul . et pro maiori securitate et euidcncia sigilla nobilium Willclmi de
Berclay domini de Tolly et Thome Fraser domini de Corntouu cum instancia presentibus apponi
procuraui . Hiis testibus Dominis Thoma de Haya constabulario Scocie . Jacobo Fraser domino
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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