DIARY OF

GENERAL PATRICK GORDON

OF AUCHLEUCHRIES

1635 – 1699

VOLUME II: 1659 – 1667

Edited by
Dmitry Fedosov

Editorial Board:
Paul Bushkovitch, Paul Dukes, Dmitry Fedosov,
Irina Garkusha, Graeme Herd, Mikhail Ryzhenkov

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 Published in 2010 by
The AHRC Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies
19 College Bounds
University of Aberdeen
AB24 3UG

ISBN 978-1-906108-14-4

Printed and bound by CPI Antony Rowe, Eastbourne

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VolumeTwo.indd 4 25/01/2011 11:24:52
 Contents

Introduction: Sword and Pen in Tumultuous Times vii

Dmitry Fedosov

Acknowledgements xxxv

Editor’s note on the text xxxvii

Note on Russian Titles and Ranks xxxix

Paul Bushkovitch

Manuscript page from Patrick Gordon’s Diary xli

1659 1
1660 42
1661 104
1662 153
1663 165
1664 186
1665 211
1666 219
1667 257

Index of persons and places 283

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 Sword and Pen in Tumultuous Times

Dmitry Fedosov

The childhood and youth of Russian General Patrick Gordon (1635 – 1699)

were far from serene, and his earliest memories were linked with “great
troubles”1. It was but a few miles from his native estate of Auchleuchries
in Aberdeenshire that the first blood of the British civil wars was shed
in May 1639, and his Gordon clansmen, including his father and uncle,
soon rose in arms. A petty quarrel, which it seemed at the outset, led to
revolution in England, beheading of the king, and loss of independence
for the ancient Kingdom of Scots. In the summer of 1651, when Patrick
sailed from Aberdeen for Polish dominions, the result was all but sealed.
Oliver Cromwell’s forces occupied the principal burghs of Scotland and
broke the resistance of their adversaries.2 Scottish patriots and royalists, as
the heir of Auchleuchries proved to be, had no choice but to submit, keep
quiet or go into exile.
Although Patrick went beyond the sea of his own will, he only managed
to return home after eighteen years, and that for a short while. Even by the
highest seventeenth-century standards his life abounded with adventures.
He distinguished himself in the service of three major powers, Sweden,
Poland-Lithuania and Russia, while remaining, at least in his own eyes, a loyal
subject of the fourth, Great Britain. After the horrors of the Thirty Years’
War, beside the feuds and conflicts of the first half of the century, Europe
had little respite, and fate would cast Gordon into the very lands which even
then lived through the cruellest of times. This is especially true of the tragic
1650s in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Rzeczpospolita), which
stood nearly alone against all of its neighbours, and almost on the verge of
extinction; this “Deluge” claimed the lives of nearly half of its inhabitants.3
    1  Diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries 1635 – 1699. Vol. I: 1635 – 1659
(Aberdeen, 2009), p. 5 (hereafter Diary, I).
   2  See, for instance, G. Donaldson, Scotland: James V – James VII (Edinburgh, 1978),
pp. 342 – 57; F. Dow, Cromwellian Scotland 1651 – 1660 (Edinburgh, 1979).
    3  See Wespazjan Kochowski, Lata Potopu 1655 – 1657, ed. A. Kersten (Warszawa,
1966); Robert Frost, After the Deluge: Poland-Lithuania and the Second Northern War,

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 viii Diary of General Patrick Gordon

In the reign of Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich it was also Russia’s lot to

suffer a long string of calamities: exhausting wars with Poland-Lithuania
and Sweden, the Salt and Copper Riots in the capital, rebellions in Pskov,
Novgorod and other cities, disturbances among Ukrainian Cossacks and
the tribes of the lower Volga, the Urals and Siberia, Stepan Razin’s insur-
rection, devastating raids by the Crimean Tatars and, not least, the Schism
of the Orthodox Church. All these events of the “Tumultuous Century”
(buntashny vek, as it is called in Russian historiography) occurred shortly
before or right after Gordon’s transfer to Muscovy in 1661, and in some
cases with his immediate participation. Even when dispatched on a peace-
ful diplomatic mission to Britain in 1666, he had to break through the
regions engulfed by war and plague, and to arrive at the ashes left by the
worst conflagration in London’s history. Moreover, the campaigns of
Chigirin, Crimea and Azov as well as the last streltsy rising lay in store for
Gordon in the future! Incredibly, despite his many wounds, providence
always guarded him from Polish sabres, Swedish muskets, Russian cannon,
Turkish and Tatar arrows, and from the weapons of his own comrades,
who sometimes encroached upon his honour.
Gordon’s justly famous Diary has been often regarded predominantly
as a source on Russian history.4 Indeed, his Muscovite spell of almost
forty years is covered most fully, in spite of the apparent loss of two or
three volumes. Nevertheless, due to the scope of its author’s activities, the
Diary also contains a lot of curious evidence on Britain, the Netherlands,
Swedish and German dominions and even on the Slavo-Hungarian county
of Szepes (modern Spiš in Slovakia), where he was stationed in the spring
of 1660. But his description of Polish affairs is particularly varied, precise
and precious, for during his ten years’ presence there he came to know
that country intimately. Gordon’s name is certainly familiar to Polish
historians: for instance, Mirosław Nagielski lists the casualties in the battle
of Warsaw (1656) with reference to the Diary.5 However, until recently

1655 – 1660 (Cambridge, 2003).

   4  For the history and significance of this great chronicle see introductory articles by
Paul Dukes and myself in Diary, I.
    5  M. Nagielski, Warszawa 1656 (Warszawa, 1990), p. 212. Cf. Diary, I, p. 115.

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 Sword and Pen in Tumultuous Times ix

he and his colleagues hardly resorted to the original text, using old faulty
translations by М.C. Posselt6 and others. In this respect, as in much else,
the real merits of the original are still waiting to be appreciated.7 The bulk
of Polish material is found in Volume I of Gordon’s journal, where the
course of the Northern War of 1655 – 1660 is related with great detail and
expertise almost throughout the whole expanse of the realm. As a sequel,
Volume II embraces another two and a half years of the Scot’s Polish
service, amounting to nearly a half of this part of the manuscript.
The year 1659, which concludes the first book of Gordon’s Diary and
opens the second, brought another turn in the author’s career. Having
been taken prisoner for the last time, Gordon with his usual boldness
declined the proposal of Jan Sobieski, future King of Poland and lib-
erator of Vienna. He was offered a dragoon company based on the rich
lands of this great Polish commander, who at that time bore the title of
Crown standard-bearer. To this the captive replied that he “was come out
of my owne countrey to seeke honour, and that by lying upon lands and in
quarters nothing of that nature was to be expected”.8 He was then deliv-
ered to Grand Crown Marshal and Field Hetman, Prince Jerzy Sebastian
Lubomirski, one of the principal magnates of Rzeczpospolita, who largely
determined its politics and strategy. But Lubomirski had his first sugges-
tion turned down as well, because the stubborn Scot firmly said he “would
not serve for ensignie to no prince in Christendome any more”9. At last he
accepted the post of quartermaster with the marshal’s dragoons.
Patrick saw some action against his late employers, the Swedes, although
when he received his first command over a military unit (a company of
dragoons) there were other worries to attend to. A diligent and fearless
soldier, he always demanded the same from his subordinates, as soon as
he got some. While on a march through Poland, his instructions to the

   6  Tagebuch des Generals Patrick Gordon, Bd. I (Moskau, 1849); Bd. II – III (St. Petersburg,
1851, 1853).
   7  For a fresh reappraisal of Gordon’s Diary as a source for Polish history see W.
Kowalski, “Patrick Gordon z Auchleuchries i jego ogląd staropolskiego świata” in
Staropolski ogląd świata – problem inności (Toruń, 2007), pp. 81 – 105.
   8  Diary, I , p. 276.
    9  Ibid., p. 278. Ensign was his last rank in the Swedish army.

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 x Diary of General Patrick Gordon

company, recruited from Swedish and Danish prisoners on Lubomirski’s

order, are remarkable: “they should by no meanes offer violence to
any person, be content with such entertainment as the countrey people
should be able to give them; that they who were in health should
take a speciall care of the sick, and both help them forwards and to
accomodate them in their quarters … I promised to take a care for their
accommodation in quartering and marching, and see to furnish them
with whole and warme cloaths and boots as soone as possible” (fols.
20 – 20 v.); and then: “I kept strict discipline, and when complaints were
verifyed by witnesses or otherwise, I punished [the offenders] severly and
to the satisfaction of the complainers” (fol. 39 v.). Such measures might
seem natural and commonplace, but seventeenth-century warfare was
rife with abuses, cruelties and extortions, as officers and soldiers treated
their own folk little better than the enemy would, while commanders
often fleeced their own rank and file. Having long remained in a simple
trooper’s skin, Gordon sincerely cared for his men and did his best to
arm, equip and train the units in his charge, from Lubomirski’s dragoons
to the tsar’s Butyrsky regiment. For all that, his strictness and demands
were not excessive.
During their march to winter quarters through the whole length of
Poland, whose people were ruined and desperate, Gordon’s poorly clothed
and barely armed men fell victim to disease. The villages assigned them
for winter were found to be occupied by Hetman Potocki’s hussars, while
local gentry, burgesses and peasants waged a veritable war on Polish units
in search of “transeant free quarters”. The Scots captain10 had to do his
best to survive, and the Diary vividly describes his clashes with the starosta
of Babimost and a nobleman named Krupka Przeclawski (fols. 26 – 27
v.; 30 – 33 v.) as well as his audacious storming (literally!) of the town of
Przemyśl, which failed to meet his expenses, and subsequent battle with
the rustics (fols. 100 – 106 v.). In passing we discover many fascinating
things about the internal affairs and party struggle in Rzeczpospolita,
along with the customs of the Polish nobility (szlachta).
  His rank at the time was captain lieutenant, as confirmed by Prince Lubomirski’s
  10

patent dated 2 July 1661.

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 Sword and Pen in Tumultuous Times xi

The crucial chapter in the Polish part of the Diary is devoted to the
Ukrainian expedition of 1660, usually called by historians after its focus,
the town of Chudnov11. From the start of the campaign Gordon held
a respectable post in charge of Marshal Lubomirski’s own dragoons, a
double company of 200 men. Lubomirski was formally second in com-
mand to Great Crown Hetman Potocki, but due to the latter’s old age and
infirmity assumed a leading role in the events, which brought one of his
best officers to the fore.
Gordon’s thorough, almost daily account of the Chudnov campaign
generally agrees with Polish sources12, adding a lot to them; we learn, for
example, not only the composition of Lubomirski’s corps, but also the
strength of each unit (fol. 55). However, the Scot does not eulogise the
winning side, paying tribute to the swift manoeuvres and tenacious defence
of the Muscovites who, even on laying down arms, desperately resisted the
Tatars with cudgels and horse bones. He shows the grave difficulties and
losses of the Poles, who panicked on the approach of a pro-Muscovite
Cossack army, and had to risk dividing their forces in order to intercept it.
As usual, victory went to those who made fewer mistakes, and Gordon duly
points out the blunders of Boyar V.B. Sheremetev, the Russian commander-
in-chief, such as his passive wait-and-see tactics, lack of coordination with
the Cossacks under his ally Yury Khmelnytsky and even with those in the
boyar’s own army under Colonel Tsetsura, the abandonment of Chudnov
to the Poles along with its castle and plentiful supplies etc.
The diarist himself kept his favourite place in the van. Referring to his
part in the battle with the Cossacks at Slobodishcha, the Polish historian
Romuald Romański observes that “Lubomirski vested his trust in that
officer, having twice given him such responsible tasks in one day”.13 In

  11
  Chudniv (Ukrainian), Cudnów (Polish), Chudnov (Russian).
  12
  R. Romański, Cudnów 1660 (Warszawa, 1996). For Russian studies of this campaign
and relevant subjects see: S.M. Soloviev, Sochineniya, book VI (Мoscow, 1991),
pp. 84 – 8; А.P. Barsukov, Rod Sheremetevykh, book V (St. Petersburg, 1888); D.F.
Маslovsky, Zapiski pо istorii voyennago iskusstva v Rossii, pt. I (St. Petersburg, 1891);
А.V. Маlov, Russko-polskaya voyna 1654 – 1667 gg. (Мoscow, 2006).
  13
  Romański, op. cit., p. 139. Cf. Diary, II, fols. 69 – 76. Romański wrongly styles
Gordon a lieutenant, a rank he never had.

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 xii Diary of General Patrick Gordon

the decisive battle near Chudnov on 4 (14) October 1660 Patrick Gordon
received two wounds, and during the whole campaign he lost at least 26
of his company killed and 59 wounded, some fatally, i.e. nearly half of the
complement.
In this war, as always throughout his life and career, the diarist met with
fellow Scots on all sides. Gordon’s elder contemporary and countryman, Sir
Thomas Urquhart of Cromarty, having proudly listed dozens of Scottish
generals and colonels in virtually every army in Christendom, observed that
in those days “what battel soever at any time … hath been struck within
the continent of Europe, all the Scots that fought in the field were never
overthrown and totally routed, for if some of them were captives and taken
prisoners, others of that nation were victorious and givers of quarter; val-
our and mercy on the one side with misfortune and subjection upon the
other side, meeting one another in the persons of compatriots on both
sides”.14 This is amply supported by Gordon’s Diary and other sources:
in the Russian ranks the action at Chudnov claimed the life of Lieutenant
Colonel Thomas Menzies, while the wounded Colonel Daniel Crawford
surrendered to the “Polish Lord” Henry Gordon, youngest son of the
Marquis of Huntly, who later released him free of ransom (fol. 120 v.).
Ironically, less than a year after the Polish triumph, Gordon all of a
sudden found himself with the beaten side. Overjoyed by the Stuart res-
toration in Britain, he with much effort obtained a discharge from Prince
Lubomirski, who held him in high esteem. But it appeared impossible to
find employment at home, while the proposal to raise a regiment of horse
for the German emperor, which he had accepted, was reversed. Feeling
awkward about rejoining the Poles, Patrick finally yielded to the “great
temptations” of the Russian ambassador Zamiata Leontiev, his doubts
dispelled by Colonel Crawford, the “Russian Scot” captured at Chudnov,
who persuaded his compatriot of the tsar’s favour. In early September
1661 Gordon arrived in Moscow to be graciously received by Tsar Alexey

  Sir Thomas Urquhart of Cromarty, The Jewel (Edinburgh, 1983), p. 98. This book,
  14

first published in 1652, also mentions some of Gordon’s future comrades-in-

arms, i.e. Robert Douglas, Sir John Henderson and Sir Alexander Leslie, who
fought for the Swedes, Austrians and Russians respectively.

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 Sword and Pen in Tumultuous Times xiii

Mikhailovich, proved his skill in handling arms, and enrolled as major in

Crawford’s regiment of foot, a novel branch for the former cavalryman and
dragoon. “Major Patricius” got the reward usually granted to foreign offic-
ers upon entering Russian employment,15 and all seemed to go smoothly.
At this moment, however, the calm, measured tone of the Diary
explodes into a deadly invective against Muscovy and its people (fols.
129 – 130 v.). Denunciations of a similar kind were, of course, widespread
among contemporary Western writers of different nations: there are
many instances in the works of Adam Olearius, Augustin von Mayerberg,
Samuel Collins, Nicolaes Witsen, Jacob Reutenfels16 and others. But in
this passage Gordon has so much venom that all former German and
Russian translators utterly expurgated it from their editions. Here is just
the conclusion: Muscovites are “morose, avaricious, niggard, deceitfull,
false, insolent and tirrannous, where they have command, and being under
command, submissive and even slavish, sloven and base, and yet over-
weening and valuing themselves above all other nations”.17 What was it,
then, that so infuriated the hardy and seasoned Scot?

  15
  The first document of Gordon’s Russian period has survived; it is a petition for
reward from himself and fellow Scots with a note of the tsar’s consent on 7
September 1661. It runs: “To Major Patricius is given 40 rubles, 8 pairs [of sables]
at 5 rubles a pair, [and] kamka kufter [a piece of cloth]” (Russian State Archive of
Military History (RGVIA), Moscow, F. 495, op. 1, № 27, fols. 2 – 3). But Gordon’s
signature on the reverse looks doubtful to me, since it does differ from his con-
temporary autographs. Was it forged at the Embassy Office or penned by his
regimental commander, because the major initially refused his reward?
  16
  Adam Olearius, Beschreibung der muscowitischen und persischen Reise (various editions
and translations); Iter in Moschoviam Augustini Liberi Baronis De Mayerberg … [1661];
Samuel Collins, The Present State of Russia, in a Letter to a Friend at London (London,
1671); Nicolaes Witsen, Moskovische Reyse 1664 – 1665. Journaal en Aentekeningen
(‘s-Gravenhage, 1966); Jacob Reutenfels, De rebus Moschoviticis ad Serenissimum
Magnum Hetruriae Ducem Cosmum Tertium (Patavii, 1680). All these were written
by Gordon’s contemporaries, who visited Russia at nearly the same period. He
must have read the celebrated book by Olearius, and was well acquainted with
Mayerberg and Collins personally.
  17
  In Passages from the Diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries (Aberdeen, 1859),
p. 47, based on a transcript by M.C. Posselt, this fragment is heavily censored,
saying just: “morose and niggard, and yet overweening and valuing themselves
above all other nations”.

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 xiv Diary of General Patrick Gordon

It was not just the impossibility to get his lawful pay without a habitual
bribe for the “chancellor” (dyak), or being paid in copper money instead
of silver (by 1663 the rate plummeted from 4/1 to 15/1), which was
already bad enough. Gordon suffered the powerful shock of plunging into
another world, from West to East, from Catholicism to Orthodoxy, from
“liberal” Poland, where one could freely converse in Latin, to autocratic
Russia, which until the conquest of Kiev with its famous Mohyla College
could not boast a single high educational institution. The man respect-
fully treated by the Polish-Lithuanian elite now had to sign his petitions
to the tsar as “kholop Petrushka” (Petrie the serf)! The great monarch who
westernised Russia was not yet born, and his father, for all his Western
leanings, remained very conservative. As V.О. Kliuchevsky put it, Tsar
Alexey “still firmly rested with one foot in his native Orthodox antiquity,
while his other foot was lifted beyond its limit and remained in this uncer-
tain transitional posture. He grew up with the generation, which for the
first time was compelled by necessity to cast anxious and uneasy glances at
the heretical West, hoping to find there the means of escape from domes-
tic difficulties without abdicating from the concepts, customs and beliefs
of the devout olden days”.18
The Russian Tsardom’s transition towards Western Europe, “from
steppe to sea”, where Gordon was to play a huge part, has only just begun,
first and foremost in the military field; Crawford’s regiment was a direct
successor to the units “of foreign order” established in the early 1630s
by Alexander Leslie, Russia’s first-ever general.19 In the reign of Alexey
Mikhailovich the government already belonged to a succession of his pro-
Western boyars and favourites, such as B.I. Моrozov, I.D. Мiloslavsky, F.М.
Rtishchev, А.L. Оrdin-Nashchokin, А.S. Маtveyev, and later Prince V.V.
Golitsyn. Gordon knew them all well, and became very close with some.
However, their novelties mostly had to do either with foreign policy meas-

  18
  V.О. Кliuchevsky, Russkaya istoriya. Polnyy kurs lektsiy, book II (Мoscow, 1997), pp.
412 – 13.
  19
  On this military reform see Е.D. Stashevsky, Smolenskaya voyna 1632 – 1634 gg.
Оrganizatsiya i sostoyanie Моskovskoy armii (Kiev, 1919); А.V. Chernov, Vооruzhennye
sily Russkogo gosudarstva v XV – XVII vv. (Мoscow, 1954), pp. 169 – 71.

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 Sword and Pen in Tumultuous Times xv

ures or adoption of Western luxury goods to embellish their palaces with,

including “comedy acts” and “German” music. The Russian way of life
remained basically unshaken in all places and in every estate. Xenophobia
revealed itself in sharp and constant fits, as peasants fled at the very sight
of aliens even on busy frontier roads20, the Moscow foreigners were
evicted to a special “reservation” beyond the city limits, and visitors from
abroad were often insulted and subjected to violence.21 Decades later, in
1690, already under Peter the Great, the head of the Russian Orthodox
Church, Patriarch Joachim, thwarted General Patrick Gordon’s invitation
to the Kremlin feast to celebrate the birth of Peter’s heir. In his implacable
testament Joachim admonished the tsars to remove “accursed heretics”
from any command in the army or civil service: “What succour could
be had from them for the Orthodox host? They only incur the wrath of
God … Wolves have command over lambs! By God’s grace, in the Russian
Tsardom there are many devout men skilled in military art. I do remind you
again, that heretics of different creeds should not be anywhere permitted
to erect Roman churches, German kirks or Tatar mosques, nor should
novel Latin and foreign customs or changes in dress be introduced after
foreign fashion”.22 Even an educated Westerner, the Croatian Juraj Križanić
(1618 – 1683), who reached Moscow shortly before Gordon and avidly
advised Muscovites to learn from the West, cautioned his fellow Slavs:
“Germans, Jews, Scots, Gypsies, Armenians and Greeks are everywhere
sitting on our shoulders and sucking our blood. For contempt wherewith
foreigners are treating us, and for reproaches wherewith they are shower-
ing us, the first reason is our ignorance and negligence of learning, while
the second reason is our xenomania [chuzhebesiye], or folly, in consequence
whereof the foreigners have dominion over us, cheat us in every way and

  20
  А. Olearius, Opisanie puteshestviya v Moskoviyu (St. Petersburg, 1906), p. 22.
  21
  “Without any scruples [Russians] provoke all sorts of foreigners, especially Germans,
with unashamed words, or, meeting them by chance, loudly tease them with the
silliest abuse: ‘shishi’” (J. Reutenfels, Skazaniya Svetleyshemu Gertsogu Toskanskomu
Kozme III о Моskovii (Мoscow, 1905), p. 144).
  22
  Testament of Patriarch Joachim in N.G. Ustrialov, Istoriya tsarstvovaniya Petra Velikago,
Vol. II (St. Petersburg, 1858), pp. 467 – 77.

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 xvi Diary of General Patrick Gordon

make us to be whatever they wish, therefore they call us Barbarians”.23

Not surprisingly, the strongest Russian impression on another Western
newcomer, recorded in his Diary several times, is the unfriendliness and
“extraordinary morosenes” of the people (fols. 124, 126, 130).
In this plight Gordon was “almost at wits end with vexation” and
desired to quit at once, but the authorities made it very clear that Polish
spies were destined for another direction, Siberia. When taking the oath of
loyalty, he absolutely refused to serve the tsar “all the days of his life” (it was
initially promised not to detain him for more than three years!), and swore
allegiance only until the end of the Polish war. Indeed, he was so anxious
to leave the country that out of 600 ducats saved in Poland the thrifty Scot
spent nearly a quarter on “gifts” to join a Russian mission to the shah of
Persia, but to no avail. Gordon’s bitter complaints can be heard in the lines
of Augustin von Mayerberg, the Imperial ambassador to Moscow, whom
he often visited to attend Roman Catholic mass: many officers “repent
that they have penetrated into this labyrinth in hopes of advantages, hav-
ing left the gods of their fathers, and not prizing the free employment
among their own people. For the tsar is cruelly mocking at the conditions
whereby they have provided for dismissal to their homeland after the time
of service would pass, having relied on them as on the thread of Ariadne:
[the tsar] is detaining some by his largesse, others by requests, still others by
advancement, even, if he please, by exile into radiating nooks of intermina-
ble thickets. He preaches to all on the impropriety of dismissal for military
men at such a time when war is in full swing, or when it is apprehended.
These poor men are never released because of this apprehension, where-
from Alexis cannot be freed for a moment, for the vast Muscovite realm
is almost everywhere encircled by belligerent peoples who do not suffer
peace, and surrounded with their envy and hatred”.24 Thereafter Gordon
frequently renewed his solicitations for dismissal, and only in his final years
realised that he was not destined to die in his native land.

  23
  Quoted in S.M. Soloviev, Sochineniya, book VII (Мoscow, 1991), pp. 154 – 5. It is of
note that in the list of “bloodsuckers” the Scots have a place of honour, coming
third.
  24
  А. Маyerberg, Puteshestvie v Moskoviyu … v 1661 g. (Мoscow, 1874), pp. 177 – 8.

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 Sword and Pen in Tumultuous Times xvii

Having somewhat regained his temper, Major Gordon assiduously

took to regimental duties, spent the whole winter “at inexpressible paines
and trouble”, exercising the soldiers twice a day, and gradually got recon-
ciled to his position. It did not befit a Scot to succumb to adversity, and
contacts with his countrymen made life easier even in Moscow. For it has
always been in the Scottish character in general, and Gordon’s in particu-
lar, not to lose oneself in any environment, however alien and hostile, to
respect and even assume local customs without forsaking their own, and
to react promptly to any changes that occurred. Despite his tribulations
Gordon remained his earnest and efficient self. By and by he learned to
accept Muscovite ways, if not to admire them. The Diary shows a quick
transition from new to old style calendar, from miles to versts etc., while,
contrary to what some historians say, Russian names and patronymics are
rendered with care and can be easily recognised. Fluency in Polish cer-
tainly helped with the kindred tongue, and although Gordon could not get
rid of polonisms, he quickly mastered the language of Muscovite officials:
as early as 2 January 1662 he invited and entertained at home all the clerks
of the “Strangers’ Office”, which henceforth won him their amiable dis-
position (fol. 144).
Although many things in Russia aroused his indignation, Gordon,
strangely enough, does not directly condemn the state of the tsar’s armed
forces, or the level of their efficiency, as he well might. By contrast, this is
a common theme of other seventeenth-century observers. The Dutchman
Nicolaes Witsen expressed his amazement at “how Russian soldiers han-
dle their arms: one dropped it while making fire, another did not know
how to load it, a third turned his head back in firing etc.”25 Westerners
generally believed, with some justice, that Muscovites were much better
capable to hold out behind the walls than in the open field.26 A Russian
contemporary also admitted that “the foot had poor handguns, which
they could not handle, only defending themselves in hand-to-hand com-
bat with pikes and poleaxes, however blunt, and in battles they traded

  N. Witsen, Puteshestvie v Moskoviyu, 1664 – 1665 (St. Petersburg, 1996), p. 194.

  25

  А. Оlеаrius, op. сit., p. 13; А. Маyerberg, op. сit., pp. 180 – 83; J. Reutenfels, op. сit.,
  26

p. 194.

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 xviii Diary of General Patrick Gordon

three, four or more heads of their own for one enemy head. Аnd if you
look at the horsemen, not just the foreigners, but also ourselves ought to
be ashamed to look at them; to begin with, they have got wretched nags
and blunt swords, themselves being needy, unclad and unskilled in using
any guns. Forsooth, Sir, I have seen that some gentleman could not even
load his handgun, let alone shoot at a target well … And I have heard from
many gentlemen: “God grant that we serve the Great Sovereign without
unsheathing our swords!”27 Unflattering accounts were confirmed by a
string of painful defeats against Western opponents, from the Time of
Troubles and the Smolensk War through the failed siege of Riga in 1656
and the debacle of Chudnov in 1660 up to the battle of Narva in 1700.
West European military advantages and drawbacks of Russian armed
forces were actually acknowledged by the tsar’s government itself. Well
aware of this superiority, throughout the seventeenth century and even
later it adopted Western organisation, hierarchy and tactics, engaged hun-
dreds of mercenary officers and craftsmen, imported large quantities
of armament, and sponsored the translation and edition of treatises on
warfare. Many modern experts rightly point out the progress of military
innovations at this period, some important victories of Russian arms,
especially in the war against Poland-Lithuania in 1654 – 1667, and the logi-
cal continuity of reforms undertaken by the first Romanovs and Peter
the Great.28 But before Peter’s time innovations went slowly and incon-
sistently, leaving such important branches as artillery, fortification and
navy almost unaffected. More traditional arms were also far from ideal:
Gordon was not alone to rue the mass desertions (“there was scarce a day
but some runaway”) and chronic breaches of discipline, which sometimes
led to open mutiny (“Copper Riot” and streltsy rebellions), along with the
dubious qualities of hireling officers (“many, if not the most part, were
naughty base people, many whereof had never served in any honourable
condition” – fol. 157). The latter reproach could not have been aimed
at Gordon himself even by his ill-wishers, for he did earn honourable
  27
  I.Т. Pososhkov, “О ratnom povedenii” in Кniga о skudnosti i bogatstve i drugie sochineniya
(Мoscow, 1951), p. 268.
  28
  Istoriya Severnoy voyny (Мoscow, 1987), pp. 23 – 36.

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 Sword and Pen in Tumultuous Times xix

ranks in the armies of three different crowns. Before long, regardless of

frequent changes of personnel, his regiment proved best in a shooting
competition in Tsar Alexey’s presence (fol. 180 v.).
With varying degree of detail the Diary records the private and public
affairs of the 1660s in Moscow and beyond, which directly concerned
the author or attracted his attention. These include several episodes con-
nected with the troublesome relations within the military milieu: clashes
between soldiers and streltsy, rather frequent duels imported from the
West but as yet unusual among Russian officers, Gordon’s conflicts with
Captain Spiridonov and other subordinates, which normally ended to the
Scot’s satisfaction. Once, “by the knavery” of a Russian lieutenant, he
inadvertently signed a furlough for three deserting soldiers; a leave with-
out the tsar’s ukase would have meant rods and jail29, if Gordon had not
taken precautions through a friendly clerk.
Prior to the Russo-Polish truce of 1667, between May and November
1664, Lieutenant Colonel Gordon served as virtual commander of his
regiment in the garrison of the strategic border city of Smolensk. In view
of his background and mood Russian authorities thought it prudent not
to send him to the front, so that he had no chance to take on his former
comrades, the Poles. Still, he closely followed the course of military action
and political news, often getting first-hand information of the proceed-
ings. For instance, he must have learned of Prince I.A. Khovansky’s defeat
at Kushliki (fols. 141 v. – 143) from General Thomas Dalyell of The Binns,
or Russian officers temporarily imprisoned by the Poles. His informant
on the Cossack council at Nezhin, which in the summer of 1663 elected
I.М. Briukhovetsky new hetman of Ukraine (fols. 167 – 172 v.), could have
been the Scot Colonel Inglis, who attended that gathering; in any case, the
council is described with the vividness of an eye-witness.
Although Gordon did not take the field during his first Russian years,
they were probably the hardest in his entire life. He fell gravely ill, even
to the verge of death, which he explains thus: “all this tyme I remained
hugely discontented with my present condition in this place, and consid-

  Sobornoye ulozhenie 1649 goda (St. Petersburg, 1987), p. 25.

  29

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 xx Diary of General Patrick Gordon

ered of all wayes imageinable how to disengage my self of this place and
service. But seeing no possibility, I grew very melancolious, which indeed
was the occasion of the continuance of my sicknes” (fol. 148 v.). This
change obviously told on the Diary: during these years the entries become
more concise and desultory, the dates are indicated in much fewer cases;
there appear considerable gaps and chronological errors, atypical for the
conscientious and well-informed chronicler. True, the wrong dating of the
Copper Riot in Moscow (5 for 25 July 1662) could be just a slip of the pen,
because the surviving manuscript is a fair copy by the author. This outburst
of the unarmed populace, caused by heavy taxes and catastrophic mon-
etary reform, was reverently termed an “аnti-feudal uprising”30 by Soviet
scholars, although it lasted for just a few hours. On that day Crawford’s
regiment played a secondary role despite the fact that Gordon personally
galloped for orders to the tsar’s residence at Kolomenskoye, and barely
escaped capture by the mob. His account of the riot is less circumstantial
than the one by Grigory Kotoshikhin31, but has some points which are
absent from the latter, including the evidence that to restore order the
tsar’s government resorted to foreigners who lived in the capital.
A more serious fault in the Diary has to do with the arrival of the
Dutch embassy headed by Jacob Boreel, which Gordon dates to the end
of 1662, two full years earlier than should be.32 But it is perhaps most
difficult to explain why the entry on the important victory over the Poles
at Chausy in White Russia is attributed to May 1663 (fol. 164 v.); this is
all the more puzzling because the diarist was well acquainted with Major
General William Drummond, who commanded the Russians in that
battle. According to the relation of the Smolensk voyevoda, Prince P.А.
Dolgoruky, based on Drummond’s own report, the engagement was won
on 16 May 1662.33 We are led to surmise that during his long illness and
  30
  V.I. Buganov, Моskovskoye vosstanie 1662 g. (Мoscow, 1964).
  31
  G.К. Коtoshikhin, О Rossii v tsarstvovanie Alexiya Мikhailovicha (St. Petersburg, 1884),
pp. 114 – 17.
  32
  Сf. N. Witsen, op. cit. Boreel’s embassy stayed in Russia from December 1664 to
May 1665. Nicolaes Witsen (1641 – 1717), future burgomaster of Amsterdam and
friend of Peter the Great, was a member of the ambassador’s suite.
  33
  Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts (RGADA), F. 79, 1662, № 1, fols. 148 – 9,

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 Sword and Pen in Tumultuous Times xxi

mental depression Gordon kept his notes but irregularly. He seems to

have forgotten his pen for a while, and restored some omissions later on.
By his own confession, Gordon recovered from melancholy and bad
health thanks to the regimental exercises and his “not loveing to ly idle”,
as well as to the support of friends. Having traveled a lot, he maintained a
lively correspondence from Aberdeenshire to Kazan’ and constantly wid-
ened his circle of contacts. His countrymen and other visitors from the
West abounded in Pskov, Novgorod, Smolensk and other cities and towns,
but their real nest was the New Foreign Quarter (Novaya Inozemskaya
Sloboda), established near Moscow, on the right bank of the Yauza River,
only nine years before Gordon came.34 It was here that he hired his first
dwelling on arrival, it was here that he returned to his own mansion from
campaigns and journeys, gradually rising to become the revered “patri-
arch” of the foreign colony.
From early on the Sloboda was growing fast and numbered about 200
households, although, as we can see in a drawing from the Mayerberg
album35, it has not yet acquired the “exemplary” regular look of the
Petrine period, and outwardly differed but little from Russian settlements
with their wooden houses (izby). However, this islet, lacking any admin-
istrative autonomy or privileges and surrounded by the almost primeval
sea of old Russia, staunchly upheld its Western tastes and customs. Many
European visitors paid attention to it, but the most particular and reliable

153 – 62, 187 – 9, 192 – 5, 205 – 7. These documents show that Drummond with a
detachment of 3,119 men and 4 cannon convoyed money, provisions and ammu-
nition from Smolensk to Bykhov. Near Chausy he was attacked by some 6,000
Poles and Lithuanians, who were rebuffed and “cut down for 15 versts”. Enemy
losses were estimated at 1,500; the Russians captured 92 prisoners, 15 colours
and 1 cannon, having lost just a few dozen men. This success, although relatively
modest, was especially welcome after several crushing defeats in a row. See also
S.M. Soloviev, Sochineniya, book VI (Мoscow, 1991), p. 116.
  34
  S.К. Bоgоyavlensky, “Моskovskaya Nemetskaya sloboda” in Izvestiya АN SSSR.
Seriya Istoriya i filosofiya, vol. IV, № 3 (Мoscow, 1947); V.А. Коvrigina, Nemetskaya
sloboda Moskvy i yeyo zhiteli v kontse XVII – pervoy chetverti XVIII vv. (Мoscow, 1998).
  35
  Аlbom Мeyerberga. Vidy i bytovyya каrtiny Rossii XVII v. (St. Petersburg, 1903), № 75.
This drawing of the New Foreign Quarter is its earliest depiction, made by J.R.
Storn and dated 1661, the very year Gordon came to Moscow.

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 xxii Diary of General Patrick Gordon

story of its existence over several decades is found in Gordon’s Diary: we

thus have a fascinating record of its weddings, burials, christenings, feasts,
masquerades, duels etc., while the mentions of equestrian races or the rites
of St. Valentine’s eve are apparently the earliest in the history of Moscow.
Before long Gordon came to know virtually all the prominent members
of the local community, officers, merchants, doctors, pastors and crafts-
men. There were representatives of many nations among them, but the
closest ties still remained with his countrymen, notably Generals Thomas
Dalyell and William Drummond, Captain (later Major) Paul Menzies and
other Scottish officers of Crawford’s regiment. Relations with his imme-
diate commander were not without difficulties: on the one hand, Major
General Crawford did not overexert himself with regimental routine, pre-
ferring to shift it onto his deputy, on the other, he and his family were
“exceeding kind” to Gordon during his dangerous illness. Regrettably,
from the Diary we do not learn that much about the character and mien
of these people, even though Gordon was quite capable of keen indi-
vidual observations, as attested by verbal portraits of Colonel Alexander
Anderson in Volume I or Prince Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski in Volume II.
The main events of Gordon’s private life during these years were his
long engagement and wedding, whereby he hoped to escape from melan-
choly. Furthermore he knew that “the Russes [do] not trust batchelours
so much as those who are marryed”, especially when disaffected foreign
officers were concerned. The young and debonair lieutenant colonel was
a coveted match for many families of the Foreign Quarter, so that he had
to employ all his skills not to fall in the nets. He made a very deliberate
choice and sought the hand of the Roman Catholic girl named Catherine
van Bockhoven, daughter of the Netherlandish colonel who had formerly
served in Britain and was married to a Welsh lady. Gordon’s epistles to his
fiancée, the earliest and most intimate of his surviving letters, were utterly
neglected by previous publishers of the Diary, and are printed here in the
original for the first time.
Meanwhile a grave obstacle arose: Catherine’s father was held prisoner
in Poland, and without his blessing the marriage was impossible. Gordon
knew how to achieve a goal, and this time he even surpassed himself. He

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 Sword and Pen in Tumultuous Times xxiii

tirelessly solicited the tsar’s government, obtaining a ukase to exchange

the captive for some Polish noblemen, personally went to negotiate with
Polish plenipotentiaries, showered all interested parties with letters, and
even procured a relevant written request from the king of Great Britain
to the king of Poland. Finally, Colonel Philipp Albert van Bockhoven
regained his freedom as a result of the Russo-Polish truce, but he appar-
ently decided the fate of his daughter even before his return. In January
1665, two years after the proposal, Patrick and Catherine were married
in the Foreign Quarter; the bride barely turned fifteen, the groom, soon
promoted to colonel, being nearly thirty years old. In November their first
child, Catherine Elizabeth, was born, and the following spring they moved
into their own new house in the Sloboda. Although we are told almost
nothing about their family life at this period, while subsequent parts of
the Diаry are lost, they certainly proved a happy couple. Catherine did
not have long to live, and her husband remarried, but to his final days he
recalled her with tenderness.
In the concluding section of Volume II the diarist appears in a new
quality. In June 1666 he was suddenly ordained to deliver a letter from Tsar
Alexey Mikhailovich to his own sovereign, King Charles II. Admittedly,
Gordon was concerned with diplomatic matters even earlier: while in
Poland, the Imperial Ambassador Baron Lisola intended to send him as a
courier to Vienna; later on he strongly but fruitlessly petitioned for a place
with the tsar’s mission to Persia, аnd in 1663 he rendered an important
service to the British Ambassador to Muscovy, the Earl of Carlisle (fol.
176). Now, albeit in a junior rank of “messenger” (gonets), he was charged
with an official mission of a highly important and delicate nature. The very
fact that it was entrusted to a foreign subject, who had come to Russia just
to serve temporarily, not permanently (“in the Great Sovereign’s name”),
speaks of the high confidence in which Gordon was held by the Russian
government. Before his errand foreigners but rarely represented the tsar’s
interests abroad, especially on their own36; even if they had such an oppor-

  Documents on Gordon’s mission make mention of several such cases, but they
  36

all belong to later years, except for Colonel Andrew Forret’s participation in a
Russian embassy to London; he was interpreter and aide to Ambassador Prince

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 xxiv Diary of General Patrick Gordon

tunity, it was normally under the supervision of senior Russian diplomats.

Prior to his departure Gordon’s status was raised to colonel of cavalry,
although his regiment belonged to infantry.37
The prerequisites and circumstances of this mission are sufficiently
explained in the Diary. Through his numerous friends and correspondents
the courier was very well informed about European events as a whole
and the state of Russo-British relations.38 In the official foreign policy
hierarchy of the Tsardom of Russia Great Britain yielded only to the Holy
Roman (German) Empire and stood on a par with the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth.39 Russian contacts with the British kingdoms, by then
over a century old, were traditionally friendly and had a special significance
in the commercial sphere, since it was the English who discovered the
seaborne route to the mouth of the Northern Dvina River, and thus
gained a lasting advantage over their competitors. These ties, interrupted
during Cromwell’s protectorate, which was not recognised by the tsar,
revived with the Stuart Restoration in 1660, and seemed to augur well
because the tsar had supported King Charles II in his exile. But on the eve
of Gordon’s voyage bilateral relations cooled off sharply. The British did
everything they could to reclaim their privileges in Muscovy, particularly
the right of duty-free trade, which they lost by the tsar’s ukase after the
execution of King Charles I in 1649. The Russian government, being
on the brink of insolvency, could not afford it, and with comparable
firmness, under various pretexts, refused all protestations and requests.
The situation grew worse with the failure of the embassies of the Earl
of Carlisle to Moscow (1663 – 4) and Stolnik V.Ya. Dashkov to London
(1664 – 5).40 On his return, Dashkov “did so aggravate his hard usage, that
P.S. Prozorovsky in 1662 – 3 (RGADA, F. 35, op. 1, № 215, fols. 31 – 3; № 243,
fols. 11 – 12; F. 141, op. 5, 1675, № 86, fols. 9 – 12; F. 159, op. 2, № 187).
  37
  RGADA, F. 35, op. 1, № 215, fols. 31 – 3.
  38
  Тhus, in late 1665 Gordon received letters from Generals Dalyell and Drummond,
dated Hamburg 29 September, with “a large and particular relation of the
passages and state of effaires in Cristendome” (fol. 214 v.). On the political, diplo-
matic and commercial background see P. Dukes, G.P. Herd & J. Kotilaine, Stuarts
and Romanovs. The Rise and Fall of a Special Relationship (Dundee, 2009), pp. 81 – 131.
  39
  G.К. Коtoshikhin, op. сit., pp. 45 – 6, 61.
  40
  See a survey of Russo-British relations of the period in S.M. Soloviev, Sochineniya,

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 Sword and Pen in Tumultuous Times xxv

it was doubted [in Moscow] whither any intercourse or correspondence

should be hereafter betwixt the princes” (fol. 222 v.).
Still more complications were brought about by the rivalry of two great
maritime powers and Russia’s principal trading partners, Great Britain and
the United Provinces, which in 1665 – 7 waged a full-scale war. The Dutch
lost no time in availing themselves of their enemies’ problems, and began
to squeeze them out of the Russian market, while doing quite well in naval
battles. The final blow was dealt to the British in 1665, when Tsar Alexey
decreed a full ban on their ships in Archangel because of the plague which
afflicted England.41 On 29 December King Charles II addressed a letter
to Alexey, asking him not only to prevent the Dutch from exporting naval
supplies from Russia, but to grant this right to the commissioners of the
British crown for the term of five years.42 It was the tsar’s response, dated
24 June 717443 (1666), that was given to Patrick Gordon for delivery. It
stated that “on the Dvina near the city of Archangel a firm prohibition
is made about ship masts and tar on pain of death: it is utterly forbid-
den to sell ship masts and tar to the subjects of Holland’s States, and to
send them beyond the sea”44. This was as far as concessions went, since
Russia strove to stay neutral in the Anglo-Dutch struggle. Supplies for
the Royal Navy were not permitted, the closure of the Northern trading
route for British ships remained in force until the plague should recede,
and the restoration of commercial privileges was once again postponed
for an indefinite time. All this could hardly satisfy the British government
or enliven reciprocal ties.
Because of serious impediments, which “tormented him to death”45,
Gordon’s voyage lasted for almost a year. He was forced to take a long
detour through Germany and the Netherlands, privately hired a yacht

book VI (Мoscow, 1991), pp. 511 – 18.

  41
  RGADA, F. 35, op. 1, № 211.
  42
  Ibid., op. 2, № 97.
  43
  In Russia years were reckoned “from the Creation of the World”.
  44
  RGADA, F. 35, op. 1, № 215.
  45
  A phrase from Gordon’s letter, sent from Bruges in September 1666, to Dumny
Dyak Almaz Ivanov, which survives in Russian translation (RGADA, F. 35, op.1,
№ 215, fols. 54 – 6).

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 xxvi Diary of General Patrick Gordon

in Nieuwpoort and, slipping between Dutch frigates and French capers,

reached the shore of England on 1 October. On the 9th he had an audi-
ence with the king. Despite the disappointing contents of the tsar’s letter,
Charles II received his subject graciously, granted him the freedom of the
court, а gift and the sum of 200 pounds sterling.
Waiting for official royal response, the tsar’s messenger spent over four
months in England, until early February 1667. The respective pages of
the Diary are rather laconic, because Gordon led a fairly reserved way of
life as a private person, not least to save expenses, and “not haveing in
my instructions to give notice of my comeing or visits to the ministers of
forreigne princes, upon the acco[un]t of not makeing any great noise, the
Russes being unwilling to disoblige the Hollanders, whom my business
concerned most” (fol. 248 v.).
For the English capital and the entire realm it was an extremely disturb-
ing time.46 Just then a terrible fire devoured almost the whole of London,
which the diarists likened to the ruins of Troy or Sodom, the pestilence still
ravaged the environs, the unsuccessful war against the United Provinces
and France put a great strain on all resources, and there were intimidating
rumours about foreign invasions, revolts in Scotland and conspiracies of
Papists (to whom the newly arrived Russo-Scottish colonel happened to
belong). The court wore mourning for the king’s mother-in-law, and all
theatres closed down until the end of 1666. Prices on goods and services
soared so high as to be surpassed only in the next century. Autumn, winter
and spring of 1666 – 7 were abnormally cold and inclement, although this
did not bother the northerner who came from Muscovy; in fact, he has
little to say on the weather in his Diary.
His instructions did not oblige Gordon to hold any official negotia-
tions, but he did have several meetings with Lord Chancellor Clarendon
and Secretary of State Sir William Morice. Their substance was appar-
ently recorded in the obligatory report (stateiny spisok) submitted to the
Russian Embassy Office on return. This document has not been dis-
  46
  The best narrative sources for it are two renowned contemporary journals by
John Evelyn and Samuel Pepys. Unfortunately, neither has anything to say about
Gordon (nor he on them), because of the low-key character of his mission.

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 Sword and Pen in Tumultuous Times xxvii

covered, although it existed in the nineteenth century and, according to

historians of the period, “did not contain anything of importance above
what was written in the Diary”47. From the latter we know that the parties
“very sharply” debated the sore issue of British commercial privileges
in Muscovy (fol. 251). For all his sympathy for members of the Russia
Company, among whom he had many good friends, Gordon could not
but inform King Charles’s ministers that revocation of customs duties by
the tsar was highly unlikely.
Gordon’s spare hours were devoted to excursions to the Tower and
other landmarks, exchange of visits, and correspondence with relations
and acquaintances. Naturally, he paid his respects to almost all Scottish
dignitaries residing in London: the omnipotent ruler of Scotland, Lord
Lauderdale, the Earls of Rothes and Middleton, and Lieutenant General
Drummond, as well as to the former ambassador to Moscow, the Earl of
Carlisle. He was also courteously received by the Commander-in-Chief
Prince Rupert, and by the Duke of York and Albany, brother and heir
to the reigning monarch. Worthily representing the interests of Russia,
Gordon, however, did not intend to stay there too long. He endeavoured
to secure his future in Britain and sought powerful patrons.
On 18 January 1667, at a farewell audience, King Charles “very gra-
ciously delivered the letters to the Tzaar out of his owne hands to me,
desireing to be remembred to and salute his deare and loveing brother”.
When Gordon noticed an inaccuracy in the tsar’s title, he petitioned for
another copy, although either in haste or for some other reason the address
was not corrected.48
The return journey went without any notable adventures, and in June
Gordon was back in Moscow. The king’s letter was written in a courteous
but rather stern tone, and some historians believed that Russian authori-
ties, dissatisfied with the mission’s result, subjected the Scottish colonel to
disgrace or even a “house arrest”49. But neither the Diary nor any other

  47
  Dnevnik generala Patrika Gordona, pt. II (Мoscow, 1892), p. 96.
  48
  The original of this letter is preserved in RGADA, F. 35, op. 2, № 98. See also Diary,
II, fols. 258 v. – 260 v.
  49
  A. Brückner, Patrick Gordon i yego dnevnik (St. Petersburg, 1878), pp. 27 – 9.

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 xxviii Diary of General Patrick Gordon

contemporary document gives so much as a hint about anything of this

sort. His main purpose, delivery of the tsar’s letter and the king’s response,
was successfully achieved, and it was not the messenger’s fault that rela-
tions between the two powers were far from idyllic. Gordon’s dispatch to
southern Russia and Ukraine at the head of his regiment stemmed from
his direct responsibility, and can in no wise be considered as “exile” or a
sign of disfavour. Furthermore, in just a couple of years he was granted
leave to go to his homeland to settle his private matters. It is only unclear
why the Scot, always firm and scrupulous in whatever was due to him,
took so long to compensate his travel expenses paid from his own pocket;
out of 633 rubles less than a half was refunded to him as late as 1675, and
the rest in 1681, fourteen years after his return!50 The lengthy delay can be
explained by his serving far from Moscow, by bureaucracy and ill will of
some officials, or perhaps by the intrigues of more powerful adversaries.
From July 1667 the Diary breaks off for a full decade, as one or two
subsequent volumes are lost. Fortunately, we have some additional sources
from British and Russian archives, including documents connected with
Gordon’s mission to London and his letters to Joseph Williamson, secre-
tary to Lord Arlington and founder of London Gazette (later M.P., knight,
secretary of state and second president of the Royal Society).51 The eight
early letters to Williamson, dated at short intervals, as it were, continue
the Diary in content and style until the end of 1667 and convey a lot of
valuable evidence. Reporting on the most important developments in the
East of Europe, particularly, on the tsar’s dismissal of many foreign offic-
ers after the truce with Poland, the Moscow correspondent of the London
Gazette prophetically observes: “ere long wee shall have enough to do with
Turke and Tartar, which will at least keep our hands in use”.52 Two more
of Gordon’s dispatches, to Prince I.A. Khovansky, voyevoda of Pskov, and
  50
  RGADA, F. 141, op. 5, 1675, № 86 (this contains Gordon’s full itinerary in 1666 – 7);
F. 35, op. 1, № 243.
  51
  S. Konovalov (ed.), “Patrick Gordon’s Dispatches from Russia, 1667”, Oxford
Slavonic Papers, XI (1964), pp. 8 – 16; “Sixteen Further Letters of General Patrick
Gordon”, ibid., XIII (1967), pp. 72 – 95.
  52
  “Patrick Gordon’s Dispatches from Russia, 1667”, p. 13 (Gordon to Williamson
from Moscow, 1 October 1667).

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 Sword and Pen in Tumultuous Times xxix

to Dumny Dyak Almaz Ivanov, are known in Russian translations of that

period. Although brief, they offer a wide panorama of European events,
including a word on Hispano-Portuguese negotiations; it reached the
tsar’s “Foreign Office” before the first-ever Russian embassy under P.I.
Potiomkin departed for the Iberian Peninsula. Of course, there are also
other acts in existence, which relate to Patrick Gordon and his journal,
and there is still hope that new discoveries of this kind will come to light.
The original of Volume II, along with all other surviving parts of
Gordon’s Diary, is preserved at the Russian State Archive of Military
History in Moscow.53 Some of its external features are similar to the
already published Volume I, although this one is slightly smaller (about
107.5 and 92 thousand words respectively). The entire text, apart from
title pages, undoubtedly belongs to Gordon’s own pen; his handwriting,
tidy, clear and rather typical for his country and age, is attested by other
autographs which came down to us. The manuscripts are fair copies made
from primary notes, wherefore they have very few emendations or subse-
quent additions by the author.54 The fact that the journal was copied from
an earlier source is confirmed by several slips in place names, in which the
author, as a rule, is fairly exact; such mistakes are easily explained by the
graphic similarity of letters, which led to imprecise reproduction of unfa-
miliar or forgotten toponyms (Ezeura for Bzura, Pontska for Poritska etc.).
However, in this eventual version that we have there are traces of editing,
discernible both in the handwriting and by implication. For instance, the
demise of Gordon’s patron, Prince Jerzy Lubomirski, which happened
on 2 February 1667 in Breslau (Wrocław), is recorded twice: on that very
day, when Gordon was in England and could not yet know it, and on 10
March, when he heard the sad news in Hamburg.

  53
  RGVIA, F. 846, op. 15, Nos. 1 – 6. I am greatly obliged to the director, Mrs. Irina
Garkusha, and to the staff of the Archive for the opportunity to work with the
autograph manuscript of the Diary and other unique documents of their collec-
tion, as well as for their help with the commentary.
  54
  Volume II has some marks left by readers or translators of the eighteenth and nine-
teenth centuries; they underlined unfamiliar words and expressions, with French
equivalents sometimes written in (fols. 78 v. – 80 etc.). All this betrays a very weak
knowledge of English, let alone Scots.

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 xxx Diary of General Patrick Gordon

By the author’s numbering Volume II comprises 596 pages, although

not all of them are filled. The density of text varies greatly, from just one
or two lines per page to 30 and above. At the end of the year some blank
folios were usually left for possible supplements or comments. 16 pages,
which covered March and April 1664, and from January to early April
1666, are missing from the manuscript.55
In spite of omissions, defects and losses in his Diary, the unique
achievement of the Scottish soldier has long been acknowledged. Here is
the opinion of a nineteenth-century scholar, Аlexander Brückner: “The
compositions of Petreus, Оlearius, Mayerberg, Collins, Witsen, Neuville
and others are literary works written for the public. Gordon wrote only for
himself and did not think of putting his observations in systematic order
and publishing them for the world to see. He simply described his adven-
tures and set down brief news of different contemporary occurrences
in that outward, accidental order, in which he perceived the impressions
of everyday life. Since in accordance with his position he participated in
many important events of his time, keenly followed the course of affairs,
knew the particulars of many facts and was in close contact with many
historical figures, the Diary is a first-rate historical source”, which “in its
volume and variety of contents greatly surpasses all other works of this
kind”. In its “photographic precision” Gordon’s journal “is sometimes
approaching archival material”.56 One cannot disagree with this statement.
In Western Europe the genre in question was already fairly widespread,
although in English, Scots and other languages there are not all that many
surviving personal journals of the seventeenth century, as distinct from
polished literary memoirs intended for print. Besides, nearly all of them
are much more limited in time and space. The celebrated diary of Samuel
Pepys (1633 – 1703)57, for all its detail and thoroughness, embraces just the
  55
  The study of the manuscript, especially watermarks, was accomplished by Dr.
Мikhail Ryzhenkov, to whom I am grateful for sharing the results of his research.
According to him, Volume II as we know it was apparently compiled and bound
in the 1680s, when it could have been copied from the original version.
  56
  A. Brückner, op. cit., pp. 139 – 41.
  57
  The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Vols. I – XI. 1660 – 1669 (Berkeley & Los Angeles,
1970 – 1983). Pepys set down his enciphered notes almost every day, but discon-

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 Sword and Pen in Tumultuous Times xxxi

1660s, while the author hardly set his foot outside London and its envi-
rons. The above mentioned Dutchman Nicolaes Witsen took to recording
his daily experiences in Muscovy slightly later than Gordon, but he spent
just a few months in the country as an embassy member and remained a
detached, although a keen, onlooker. Significantly, in Russian society itself
similar journals began to appear only from the early eighteenth century
onwards, with virtually the sole exception of the diary wrongly ascribed to
I.А. Zheliabuzhsky.58
In both form and content Volume II, just like its predecessor, is very
diverse. Over the period of eight and a half years it comprises some prop-
erly “journal” sections (the Cudnów campaign of the Polish army, Gordon’s
transfer to Muscovy, his journey to London and return); sketches of cer-
tain subjects and events (episodes of his service in Poland and Russia,
impressions of the County of Zips (Spiš), relation on the Cossack Council
in Nezhin etc.); copies of private and official documents (letters to his
fiancée, Prince Lubomirski’s charter, articles of international treaties, two
letters of King Charles II, list of expenses on receiving a royal grant).
The Diary reflects both Gordon’s personal observations and reports from
other witnesses, along with communications from his numerous foreign
and Russian correspondents. In a single day, on 15 March 1667, staying in
Hamburg, Gordon wrote letters to eighteen different addressees in Russia,
Scotland, England, Flanders, Poland, Germany and Livonia, and on 7 May
in Riga received answers from many of them. He tirelessly questioned
his comrades-in-arms, prisoners-of-war, merchants, diplomats and others
on any matters worthy of note. Thus, the amusing anecdote about the
Lithuanian Hetman Gosiewski was evidently related to him by Augustin
von Mayerberg, the Imperial ambassador to Moscow. Hence the high
level of his awareness of what was going on in Muscovy and Western
Europe. Combined with a measured and impartial (though not always dis-
passionate) manner of description, it makes the Diary an indispensable
source. Some inaccuracies and flaws have already been touched upon, but

tinued them for fear of losing his eyesight.

  Zapiski Zheliabuzhskago s 1682 po 2 iyulia 1709 g. (St. Petersburg, 1840). This source
  58

stands no comparison with Gordon’s Diary.

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 xxxii Diary of General Patrick Gordon

more often than not its evidence is trustworthy and is supported by other
testimonies.
Since the beginning of the first complete scholarly edition of the Diary
in Russia in 2000 new facts came to light anent the Russian translation of
Gordon’s chronicle, undertaken in the nineteenth century by D.Е. Кoehler
(1807 – 1839), an official with the Russian War Ministry.59 In short they are
as follows. In 1835 the noted Russian man of letters, Аleksandr Turgenev,
sent the manuscript copy of the Diary, which he had acquired in London,
to Prince А.N. Golitsyn. The latter informed Emperor Nicholas I, who
in June of the same year issued an order “to translate the said manu-
script into Russian language, and then to seek out diligently whatever may
deserve particular attention, and report it to His Majesty”. Moreover, the
emperor “was pleased to express a desire to read these notes as soon
as possible”. At the behest of the War Minister, Count А.I. Chernyshov,
Koehler set to work on the original, obtained from the Chief Moscow
Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His intense labours, which
aroused the interest of the poet Aleksandr Pushkin and other famous
contemporaries, utterly exhausted the translator and led him to insanity
and untimely death. Кoehler managed to complete the first three volumes,
which were appreciated by the emperor, the fourth was finished by his
widow, while the last two were done by his colleagues at the War Ministry
chancellery, with less success. The fate of these translations, which at that
time entered the Imperial Hermitage Library, is still a mystery. Today we
know the whereabouts of a single volume which belonged to Koehler
(number II, the same as published presently, in two parts dated 1837)60.
Since it comes from the collection of Count Chernyshov, it must be a
copy made for the war minister, not the original presented to Nicholas I.
The second volume in Koehler’s translation demonstrates his excel-
lent command of English as well as his assiduity. Until recently it was
surely the best, although the least known, of several attempts to render
Gordon’s chronicle into another language. On the other hand, Koehler
often tended to retell the original text in his own words, in a more high-
  See my article in Diary, I, pp. xxviii – xxxi.
  59

  Russian State Library, Moscow, Department of MSS, F. 19/V. № 1 а – б.

  60

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 Sword and Pen in Tumultuous Times xxxiii

flown style, and arbitrarily substituted indirect speech for direct or vice
versa. Conveying the gist of the source sufficiently well, the translator
was in the habit of swapping some fragments and even shifting them
over several pages (descriptions of cities and towns, made by Gordon on
departure from these places, are given on his arrival; disjointed phrases
concerned with one subject are brought together; comments absent from
the original are introduced without explanation etc.). Such editing is not
without logic, but it does lead to considerable discrepancies with the origi-
nal. For some reason Koehler believed that Gordon’s letters inserted in
the Diary “mostly did not contain anything curious” and “obscured the
narrative”61; he planned to remove them to a separate volume, but this
never happened. Koehler also excluded almost all entries (very numer-
ous in the Diary!) about the correspondence kept by the author, omitted
some mentions of Gordon’s visits in London etc. Besides, there are many
examples of incorrect readings and interpretations of text, wrong terms
and downright blunders. Some of Koehler’s frugal commentaries are use-
ful, but since he was rather distant from historical studies, they make an
impression of randomness and naivety.
Collation of the original Diary manuscript with other translations by
J. Stritter and M.C. Posselt into German, and retranslations from that into
Russian, reveals their inadequacy. Narration in the third person as opposed
to Gordon’s first, rearrangement of large parts of the text, substantial
cuts (including censorial ones), substitution of translation with retelling or
summaries, and a multitude of absurd mistakes in names, dates, numbers
and terms, which sometimes produce a comical effect,62 – all this distorts
the original almost beyond recognition. Such licence also inevitably vio-
lates the emotional pitch of a historical source. Using old translations,

  Ibid, № 1 б, pp. 176 – 7.

  61

  I will give just two examples. During a march through Poland Gordon’s company
  62

allegedly lost some women, who died “from non-observance of the prescribed
diet”; the translators apparently believed that the ranks were more likely to contain
“dames” than Danes. The splendid mansion of a Hungarian magnate (Gordon
says brave house, where the first word is really the Scots braw) turned into Count
Thököly’s brewery! (Dnevnik generala Patrika Gordona, pt. I (Мoscow, 1892), pp.
176, 187; сf. Diary, II, fols. 20 v. – 21, 44 – 44 v.).

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 xxxiv Diary of General Patrick Gordon

where many things (for example, the letters to his fiancée) were omitted
because of their “unimportance”, even Gordon’s admirers presumed that
the Diary is but a feeble reflection of its author’s soul and spirit, being
“rather a cold protocol of outward facts than a representation of internal
moral and mental life”63. Of course, this is very far from the truth. In a
word, it is vital to have the widely accessible original text, and I sincerely
hope other volumes will follow the present edition.
For all its merits, the Diary of Patrick Gordon cannot be an all-embrac-
ing source on the Russian state and society, nor does it cover all crucial
events which occurred in the European North and East in the second half
of the tumultuous seventeenth century. Such a goal was never set by the
diarist. He is little concerned with many significant matters, i.e. history of
the Orthodox Church, condition of the peasantry, colonization of Siberia,
Russian legal procedure and so forth. Nonetheless, in its chronological
and geographical range (half of Europe over half a century!) and in the
diversity of its contents Gordon’s chronicle has no equal at that period.
Yet again, we “cannot but wish that our historians … would pay more
attention to this precious monument than hitherto”.64

  А. Brückner, op. сit., p. 151.

  63

  Ibid., p. 182.
  64

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 Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my

colleagues and fellow members of this project’s Editorial Board: Mrs. Irina
Garkusha, Director of the Russian State Archive of Military History, for
her kind permission to use the original manuscript of Patrick Gordon’s
Diary and other sources; Dr. Mikhail Ryzhenkov, Director of the Russian
State Archive of Ancient Acts, for allowing me easy access to the treasures
of its vast seventeenth-century collections, and for sharing his discover-
ies in studying the manuscript itself; Professor Paul Bushkovitch of Yale
University, for his expert and generous contribution to the commentary;
Dr. Graeme P. Herd of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, for his
unfailing assistance at different stages of my work; and, especially, to
Emeritus Professor Paul Dukes of the University of Aberdeen, for his
constant support of our common cause.
We all are extremely grateful to Academician A.O. Chubarian, Director,
Institute of General History, Russian Academy of Sciences, and Professor
V.P. Kozlov, formerly Chief Archivist of Russia, for facilitating the pub-
lication of the Diary. Our particular thanks go to Professor Cairns Craig,
Director of the AHRC Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies, University
of Aberdeen, and Jonathan Cameron, its Administrator, for assuming the
formidable task of publishing the Diary.
I am also much obliged to my Scottish friends, the Dalyell family
(scions of one of the main heroes of this volume), the Reid family, Dr.
Murray Frame, Frank McGuire and many others, for always making me
feel at home during my labours and travels in Scotland; to the staff of the
Russian State Archive of Military History, the Russian State Archive of
Ancient Acts and the State Public Historical Library of Russia; to my col-
leagues at the Institute of General History, Russian Academy of Sciences,
and at the Moscow Caledonian Club, and to my own kin for their manifold
help and advice.
It is owing to all these people that one of the greatest seventeenth-
century chronicles ever written is at long last, after three hundred years,
properly presented to the reading world, both scholarly and otherwise.

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 xxxvi Diary of General Patrick Gordon

And it gives us immense pleasure to observe its appearance, of all places,

in Patrick Gordon’s beloved native land and shire.

D. F.

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 Editor’s Note on the Text

The text of Patrick Gordon’s Diary is transcribed, collated, edited and

reproduced in its entirety from the original autograph manuscript kept
in the Russian State Archive of Military History, Moscow. Every care
has been taken to preserve the author’s spelling as faithfully as possible,
with just a few most evident slips emended and repeated words excluded.
The original punctuation has been taken into account and modified,
since Gordon hardly uses any question, exclamation or quotation marks.
Paragraphs have been introduced where they seemed appropriate. The
capitals, rather wayward in the original, have been standardized. Foreign
words (not English or Scots) are given in italics, and omissions indicated
by ellipses. Except for some obvious or uncertain cases, most abbrevia-
tions, contractions and initials have been extended in square brackets,
which are also used for editorial additions and conjectures. The author’s
own notes and significant corrections as well as variant readings of any
substance are mentioned in the commentary.

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VolumeTwo.indd 38 25/01/2011 11:24:53
 Note on Russian Titles and Ranks

Paul Bushkovitch

In the seventeenth century the only title held by Russian noblemen was
that of prince (kniaz’).  In the medieval period the title implied some
degree of sovereignty, but by Gordon’s time came to signify only greater
honor.  All Russian noblemen, titled and untitled, held a rank granted by
the tsar. These were of two types, the higher being the Duma ranks, and
the lower primarily honorific titles and many of the designations derived
from court service.  The Duma ranks implied the right and duty to sit
in the Tsar’s council, the Duma, and were, from the highest down, boyar,
okol’nichy, Duma (adjective: dumny) nobleman and, rarely, Duma dyak (secre-
tary) and Duma general.
Boyar was the traditional term for untitled aristocrats, dating back to
the eleventh century, while the untranslatable word okol’nichy (from okolo,
around or about) came into use about 1500 to mean a sort of junior
boyar. Below the Duma ranks were noblemen with the rank of Moscow
nobleman, stol’nik and other lesser grades. Stol’nik originally signified a
table attendant at the court in the sixteenth century, a small group, but by
1650 included hundreds of noblemen, mostly concentrated in the capital. 
These ranks were not related to the princely titles.  Some great families
were princes and boyars, others only boyars, while many princes received
only lower ranks.
The princely title was inherited by all sons and daughters of a prince.
The ranks were not hereditary, but until 1682 were governed by the rules
of the precedence system (mestnichestvo), which implied that most men
inherited their father’s ranks.  A young aristocrat usually received a lower
court rank in his youth, gradually moving up the ladder in the course of
his life.
In the later seventeenth century the Duma ranks included some seventy
men in the 1660s, rising to about a hundred by 1682, and 150 by the end
of the decade.  The lesser ranks numbered in the thousands, mostly pro-
vincial noblemen.  All noblemen had landed estates, partly inherited and

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 xl Diary of General Patrick Gordon

partly granted by the tsar, as well as grants in money and kind for their
service in the army and administration or at the court.

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 Manuscript page from Patrick Gordon’s Diary, Volume II, fol. 128

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VolumeTwo.indd 42 25/01/2011 11:24:54
 VOLUME II

1659 – 1667

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VolumeTwo.indd 44 25/01/2011 11:24:54
 {f. 2}1 1659
1

The generall2 marched from Lublin towards Reshowa3; on the way wee
rode not farr from the generall and at night wee quartered apart in villages,
I takeing up my quarters with Lievtennant Johan Hendrich Griechs and
Ensignie John Kenedy, who haveing been taken prisoners, whilst the army
lay at the siege of Thorun4, did upon the armyes removall from thence
take service and were accomodated in their former charges by the lyfe-
company of dragownes, and so being also new plenishers, wee were glad
of others company.
Being come to Reshowa, wee had our quarters in a village a mile
from the towne, being very well accomodated. Wee went to Landshut5
and gave a visitt to the Hungarian noblemen who were kept there for the
summe of money which Ragotsy had promised to the Polls when they
convoyed him away from the Tartars.6 They were locked in heavy irons
because they had suborned a fuirman7 to bring them away; which being
detected, the fuirman was hanged for his knavery, and the noblemen con-
fined to closse prison, and {2 verso} locked in very heavy irons. They
did not much complaine of their hard usage, knowing that they had
abused and rendred themselves unworthy of the liberty and honourable
usage they had formerly enjoyed.

Words and phrases from the original are in italics.

   1
  Folio 1 bears a Russian title in mid-18th century hand, which translates: “Journal or
Daily Notes (in English language) of General Gordon, who was in the Russian
service, written by himself. Volume II, from 1659 – 1667”.
   2
  Prince Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski (1616 – 1667), eminent Polish commander and
politician, great Crown marshal and field Crown hetman. Gordon served with his
dragoons and later commanded them.
   3
  Rzeszów.
   4
  Toruń (Polish), Thorn (German). Gordon uses both versions. The city was taken by
the allied Polish-Imperial army on 29 December 1658.
   5
  Łańcut.
   6
  See Diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries 1635 – 1699. Vol. I: 1635 – 1659
(Aberdeen, 2009), p. 150 (hereafter Diary, I). György II Rákóczi (1621 – 1660),
prince of Transylvania from 1648.
   7
  Fuhrmann (German) – carter, waggoner.

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 2 1659

On Shrove Tuesday wee rode to Reshova and dined in the great hall,
where the gen[era]ll himself dyned, and were very well entertained. After
dinner the ladyes came in and then they began to dance. W[hi]ch wee
beholding, some moved the gen-ll to command that wee should dance,
but he said, “Better entertaine them and make them merry with good
wyne”. So wee were taken asyde to a table, and 3 or 4 tableing with us, they
began to ply us with great glasses of good Hungarian wyne. I fearing and
suspecting the designe at first, shunned it as much as I could, but my two
comorades were in a short tyme gott so drunk that with much ado I gott
them brought to their quarters.
This Reshow is seated in a very pleasant and fertile countrey, not farr
from the river Vistula. The house is built of wood with good conven-
iences. In the great hall are painted the geanologies [sic] of the house of
Ligeza, of which family the lady was, and this being her property. Betwixt
the house and the towne is a monastery of the {3} Patres Piarum Scholarum8,
who observe the order or rules of the Jesuites and are altogether given to
the educateing of youth. The towne [is] a litle and not rich place, a small
rivolet runneth by it called [ … ]9.
The generall marched with his family to Dambrova10, and wee
marched with the company at some distance after his Exc[ellency],
haveing free quarters as is usuall in this countrey. Being come to
Dambrova, wee had our quarters given us in the suburbs of a fine litle
towne called Tarnova, belonging to the Duke Dominik11. From hence
I was sent with an order to take up bread, as they call it, in the starosty
of Libush12, belonging to the eldest of the Reyes. I had a corporall and

   8
  The Order of Poor Clerks Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools, or
Piarists, was founded in Rome in 1607 by St. Joseph Calasanctius. In 1658 Jerzy
Sebastian Lubomirski established the Piarist school in Rzeszów. This congrega-
tion became widespread in Poland.
   9
  Rzeszów stands on the river Wisłok.
  10
  Dąbrowa Tarnowska, of old Dambrawa Wielka (Magna).
  11
  Apparently, Prince Władysław Dominik Zasławski-Ostrogski (1618 – 1656), woje-
woda of Sandomierz and Krakow, although by this time he was dead.
  12
  Libusza. Starostwo (Polish) – territorial unit of Poland-Lithuania headed by starosta
(“elder”), a royal official.

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 1659 3

6 dragownes with me to safeguard the villages from the oppression of

transeant quarters.
Being come to Libush, I tooke my quarters in the voyts13 house and
kept the corporall by me, and with advice of the podstarost14 sent the drag-
ownes to diverse villages, commanding them to recognosce and learne of
the marches of companies or recruits, and give timeous advertisement of
their approaching. The podstarost, being a gentlman called Mieskofsky, and
a very civill person, kept very good friendship with me, as also a Dutch15
man called Milgast who lived in that starosty a {3v} private lyfe, haveing the
wedsett of a small village in it. With him I had good conversation.
I was here about 6 weekes and tooke great paines and used great dili-
gence in protecting the villages, upon intelligence rideing some miles to
meet the companies and tymeously divert them from quartering in the
starosty. For each jorney I received a gratuity of 20 or 30 florens or lib.
Scotts. Here I furnished my self with a suite of good cloathes, two horses,
a waggon, a servant and a boy. After I had order to march from hence, the
podstarost by order from his lord gave me a 100 florens and ane old Turkish
courser, being lame of one of his fore-legges yet a stately beast, haveing a
good presentation, and good enough for a show.
In the short tyme I was here I gott acquaintance of the most of the
gentry round about, and by modest and civill behaviour gained the love
of them all, especially of the fores[ai]d Milgast, who being a widdower
and haveing one only child, a daughter, told me not obscurely that he
wished nothing more as to have his daughter marryed to a stranger, yet
he would not have him follow the warres. Which, considering the great
riches he had, and the daughter a pretty witty yong girle, was no badd
bargaine; w-ch motion I entertained in a plausible manner without give-
ing the least assurance or entertaining my thoughts with any certaine {4}
conceit thereof, resolving to put my self in a certaine way of lyvelyhood,
whereby I could maintaine a wyfe and family, befor I should engage
myself.
  13
  Wójt (Polish) – village elder.
  14
  Podstarosta (Polish) – deputy of starosta.
  15
  Dutch usually means “German” in the Diary.

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 4 1659

Haveing received orders to march to Tarnowa, where, and in Tuchow

with the villages thereabouts the lyfe-company had quartered all this tyme,
I came to Tuchowa; where fynding the maior16, wee rode together and
lodged all night by a widdow gentlewoman called after her deceassed hus-
bands name Blonska. Wee were very neatly entertained here. The maior, it
seemes, had a mind to marry this widdow. She had a sonne and a daughter,
both about 16 or 17 yeares of age. After wee were well warmed, the maior
told me his mind and asked me if I could fynd in my heart to marry the
daughter, w-ch the next morning he reiterated in good earnest. I returned
him a dubious answer, telling him, when I saw him assured, then might I
resolve, as being certaine of a ffriend in court to speake for me; otherwise
I durst not adventure to entertaine any such thought.
Wee came to Tarnowa, and the generall being gone before, wee
marched and crossed the river Vislok at Preclaw and quartered in
Mielets, a woodden towne belonging to a gentleman called from these
lands Mieletsky. He had a very large house with orchards and gardens
hard by the towne. One of his predecessours had been great generall
of Polland.17 From hence wee marched and crossed the river Vistula a
litle above Osiek, in w-ch towne wee quarterd. This is a woodden towne
where judicatories are holden, and the best bier {4v} brewed here, as is
in all this tract.
Wee marched from hence and quarte[re]d in villages by Climentowa18,
the towne haveing compounded. The next day wee passed by Tarlo, and
comeing neer Soliets wee quartered in villages, which were most part
ruined. Wee marched through Jonoftsa19 and quartered in a village over
against Casimirs20. This Jonoftsa is a litle wooden towne, haveing a castle
or brave house with a moate on one syde, on the other three the hill wher-
eon it stood being very steep. Befor the house on the plaine was a very fine
garden and orchard with yong planting and all varieties of herbes, which
  16
  Prince Jerzy Lubomirski’s dragoons were commanded then by Major Pniowski
(Diary, I, p. 275).
  17
  Mikołaj Mielecki (ca.1540 – 1585) was great Crown hetman in 1579 – 80.
  18
  Klimontów.
  19
  Janowiec.
  20
  Kazimierz Dolny.

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 1659 5

can grow in this climate. The house and lands hereabouts belongeth to
the generall. The Sweds had at first a garrison here, but perceiving greater
opposition as they had exspected the first yeare, they drew their men out
of many other garrisons as well as this, and ruined the places. In this
house, two storyes being vaulted, they put fire at their parting in many of
the roomes, whereby near a halfe of the building was burnt.
Casimirs, which lyeth betwixt hills on the other side of the river
Vistula, is a regality commonly called starosty, in possession now of the
generall. It had been burned by the Sweds and was not as yet reedifyed,
most of the houses in the market place being of stone, and large grana-
ries all along the river. This is as it were the staple of the Ukraina, for all
the commodities brought from thence, and brought by land hither, and
{5} then by water to Dantzick21. So that whilst there was peace, it was a
towne of good traffick.
Whilst wee stayed here a gentlman Jan Cobersky, a p[rinci]p[a]ll servant
of the generalls, marryed a gentlwoman who waited on the lady22. This
being done with the ordinary sollennityes and mirth, that which pleased
me best was the eloquent orations delivered by the ffriends on both sydes,
plenty of all things being served up. My comorades Greechs and Kenedy
being very drunk, would needs quarrell with the ruitm[aste]r of the hay-
duks23. And albeit he seeing them drunk suffered enough, yet neither his
patience nor my diswasions could prevaile, for on the topp of the staires
Greechs did lay hold on him. But he being fresh, did almost throw him
downe the staires and then caused the hayducks remove them. The next
[morning] the generall sent for me and commanded me to put them in
arrest, and to take the charge of the company. He said moreover that they
should carry muskets this champagnia.
Two dayes after this a Tartars ambassadour, who had been at Varso
with the [ … ], came and saluted the generall. He was kindly entertained
and, haveing gott some presents, he departed two dayes thereafter. His

  21
  Gdańsk.
  22
  Prince Jerzy Lubomirski’s second wife, Barbara Tarło.
  23
  Rittmeister (German) – captain, usually, but not in this case, of cavalry. Hajdúk
(Hungarian and Polish) – foot soldiers, originally Hungarian.

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businesse was to assure the King24 and Republick of Polland {5v} of the
good will of his master the Chan25; to desire the payment of the honorar-
ium or pension according to the former agreement, with a promise upon
tymely advertisement to assist the King with such forces as he required
against any state, the Ottomanish Port excepted. He had been favourably
dispatched from the King with promise of contentment, and reciprocall
expressions of kindnesse.
Bogdan Chmielnitsky being dead, John Wihofsky who was his chancel-
lor or generall clerk was chosen hetman, untill his sonne Yuras, who was
as yet yong, should come to age. This man being a Poll borne, of a good
witt and indifferent learning, had in all the tyme of the Cosakes rebellion
been a p[rinci]p[a]ll person and moderator of Chmielnitskyes counsells,
on whom he had a great influence. And now, albeit Chmielnitsky his
yongest sonne Yuras (the eldest Timoska being dead) was by the army at
first chosen hetman, yet he being yong, gave place to him so that he was
accepted by most of the Cosakes. Yet knowing that many of the Cosakes
envyed him as a Poll, and that he could not retaine the command longer as
it should please Chmielnitsky {6} to accept of it or the Cosakes to impose
it upon him, as also perceiving troubles ariseing and the Moskovites jeal-
ous of him, he quietly capitulated with the Polls, accepting the palatinate
of Kyow and command of the Cosakes from the King.26
This was the yeare befor, and now he had sent a deputy called Nosacz
to the convention or parliament of estates at Varso, desireing help to

  24
  Jan II Kazimierz (1609 – 1672), King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from
1648, abdicated in 1668.
  25
  Mehmed IV Geray, khan of Crimea (ruled 1641 – 1644, 1654 – 1666).
  26
  Bohdan Khmelnytsky (ca.1595 – 1657), hetman of Ukraine, in 1648 led the Cossack
rising against Poland-Lithuania and in 1654 swore fealty to the Tsar of Russia.
Khmelnytsky’s eldest son Timofey (1632 – 1653) fell at the defence of Suceava
against the Poles and Hungarians. Bohdan’s second son Yury (ca.1641 – 1685),
having become hetman in 1659, joined the Poles in 1660, then renounced the het-
manate and took the vows, but unfrocked himself, fell prisoner to the Turks and
ended up the sultan’s puppet; the Ottomans eventually had him executed. Ivan
Vyhovsky, the Cossack secretary general, then hetman of Ukraine (1657 – 59),
despite his long service for the Poles, was accused by them of treason and exe-
cuted in 1664.

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maintaine the Polls interest in the Ukraina. Wherefor the division of the
Great Generall of the Crowne27 was ordained for that service, as also
Maior Generall Nemerits, and Coll. Nieman with many strangers offic-
ers went along with this deputy. In his returne he came to the generall at
Jonoftsa, was well entertained, gifted and dispatched. Here I did meet with
James Burnett of Leyes28, who was going in this company to the Ukraina.
I seeing him not well, being well acquainted with him befor, diswaded him
from going and prevailed.
{6v} Our generall had been at this convocation or parliament in
Varso, where it was resolved to prosecute the warr against the Sweds
in Prussia, and their enemyes in other parts vigorously. They ordained
also to be coined 4 million of shillings, being copper money, 9 going to
twopence.29
Doctor Davidsone30 comeing to Jonoftsa to give phisick to the generall
and his lady, by his intercession my comorades Greechs and Kenedy were
pardoned, released and restored to their former places.
Wee received our due pay here, as wee did alwayes when wee were by
the generall in towne, march, in the wast fields where nothing was to be
had, and in the leaguer, I receiving but 20 dollers a month, which, how-
ever, was augmented afterwards.
My Turkish courser being tethered, broke loose one evening, and run-
ning towards the other horses in the fields, some wolwes set upon him in
a narrow place, and after great strugling killed him. Which the generall
hearing, two dayes thereafter he {7} rode out of purpose and not farr of
killed two wolwes, whither these or not, I know not.
  27
  Stanisław Rewera Potocki (1579 – 1667), great Crown hetman from 1654.
  28
  Gordon’s Scottish comrade-in-arms, apparently the youngest son of Sir Thomas
Burnett, 1st Baronet of Leys.
  29
  Gordon habitually uses British terms for foreign coinage etc. Szeląg was a small
Polish-Lithuanian coin, cast from copper since 1659 by the Italian Т.L. Burattini,
and hence called boratynka. It is thought that the appearance of this coin, due to
strong Scottish commercial presence in Rzeczpospolita, was influenced by the
Scots twopenny piece (turner or bodle).
  30
  William Davidson, noted Scottish physician. He practised in Paris, where he was
also in charge of the botanic garden, then moved to Poland and became doctor
to King Jan Kazimierz.

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Haveing been here about three weeks, the generall permitted us with
the company to march away, giveing us orders to march to Wladislaw31
or Inowloclaw and there exspect orders. Wee marched the way towards
Lovicz, crossing the rivers Senna, Pilcza and Rava, takeing free quarters
upon the villages and litle townes where wee had abundance of all things.
Whereat I admired, considering how the countrey had been so often
ruined by the enemyes, and no much better used by our owne souldiery.
In Lovits, a very faire towne, wee stayed two dayes. Here the Archbishop
of Gnesna hath his residence, haveing a very faire house, environed with
a earthen wall and moate, which the Sweds garrisoned and kept untill the
King32 resolved to go to Denmarke, and so gave orders for deserting his
garrisons in Polland.
From hence wee marched to Gombin, then to Gostinin, both as
Lovits on the r[ivule]t Ezeura.33 Wee marched further to Kowale, and so
to Inowloclaw, where wee quartered two weekes, and then to Thorne with
our generall, where wee had quarters allowed us and received pay which
wee had not {7v} done on the march from Jonoftsa, in respect of the free
quarters which wee had.
Here was Maior Korffe condemned by a counsell of warr to dy, and
notwithstanding all entreatyes he was accordingly executed on the market
place. His fault was that haveing been commendant in Colum34, and have-
ing had orders that upon the approach of any considerable power of the
Sweds he should retire with the garrison to Thorne, he had not only, upon
the certaine intelligence of Lt. Generall Wurts35 his advancing towards
that place with 2 or 3,000 men, marched away according to his orders,
  31
  Apparently, Włocławek.
  32
  Karl X Gustav (1622 – 1660), King of Sweden from 1654. Almost his whole reign
was spent in arms against Poland-Lithuania, Denmark and Russia (Northern War
of 1655 – 60).
  33
  Gordon is mistaken here: unlike Łowicz, Gąbin and Gostynin do not lie on River
Bzura.
  34
  Kulm (German), Chełmno (Polish).
  35
  Baron Paul von Würtz (†1676), later field marshal, native of Schleswig, who succes-
sively served the German Empire, Sweden, Denmark and the United Provinces.
Gordon knew him when they both fought in the Swedish army, and in 1667 met
him in Hamburg.

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but did not permitt the church men to carry away the church silver and
ornaments, nor the burgers their goods. Nor when Wurts came used he
any defence, but immediately rendred upon discretion, albeit the place
was indifferent tenable, for the Sweden had no cannon but some field
pieces w[i]t[h] them; so that he and 400 dragownes and two companies
of Polls horsemen with all the riches of the churches and burgers, which
was considerable, became a prey to the Sweds. So this was the fruits of his
drunkennes, to the which he had abandoned himself altogether.
The Imperialists36 and Polls infanterie being most come, wee marched
towards Grawdents37, whither wee came upon Saturnday the [ … ] of 7ber.
The next day the generall wiewing the towne, allotted the post on the north
e[ast] over against the castle to the Imperialists. He called for me and asked
if I had been in that towne befor and {8} if I knew which was the weakest
place thereof. I told him, I had been often there, and that on the south east
syde, at a gate there, the wall was weakest and the ditch narrowest and shal-
lowest. The gen-ll answering that there was now a revelin or horneworke
there now well fortifyed with a ditch and pallisadoes, I replyed that then,
because of the difficulty of lodging any considerable number of sojors
neer that place, the best way would be to approach towards the south gate,
comonly called the Chelmish or Torunish Gate. So that with the app[r]oba-
tion of all it was resolved to advance their trenches towards the said gate,
notwithstanding there was a ravelin befor that gate also.
Michaelsky, a notable party ganger38, had attempted in the spring to
have taken or diverted the water of a small brooke, which is convoyed
to this towne from the east, but being discovered, he with his associates
were forced to take themselves to their heeles and leave their horses to
the Sweds.
I gott ane assignation upon Gzin, Grutshno and some other villages
belonging to gentlemen for furnishing the dragowns with such provisions
as they were able to give. And so, takeing some dragowns with me, I rode

  36
  Forces of the Holy Roman (German) Empire, allied to Poland-Lithuania against
Sweden.
  37
  Grudziądz.
  38
  On Michalski (Michalko) see Diary, I, pp. 159, 160, 256, 269, 273.

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to the greatest villages my self and sent to others, desireing the gentlmen
to meet me at Gzin the next day and compound for their contribution. All
came except Jan Trebnits who excused himself by letter, wherein he {8v}
complained heavily of his ruine and poverty. I agreed with them the best
way I could, takeing consideration of their haveing been ruined by fowre
yeares continuall warres. I gave them safeguards as they desired and stayed
in Gzin my self. This is ane ancient stone house, which with a church vil-
lage below it belongeth to the family of the Dziallinskies.
In fowre dayes I gott ready 12 tunnes of beere and 500 great loaves of
bread (no other provisions being to be gott), which I sent by water, and
rode to the leaguer. Whither being come, I found the towne of Grawdents
taken by storme the night befor, the most part of it being burnt, being
fyred with a great granado. The inhabitants gott most over the river on
boats and floats. Others of all sexes and ages were taken and brought
into the leaguer and stripped of all, and the women abused. The souldiers
gott most into the castle, where the next day mutinying, because the com-
mendant would hear of no accord, they ran over to the Imperialists.
The commendant Coll. Puchar with his towns maior fled into a high
round towre {9} which, being built apart from the other buildings of the
castle, had a passage into it above by some planks, which they threw of.
The tower was very high, haveing a passage within to the topp thereof by
a turnepike staires. The Imperialists upon the souldiers running over to
them entred the castle and tooke all within it, but by no perswasions could
induce the commendant to render himself.
On Sunday in the morning the generall sent me to perswade the com-
mendant to be better advised. Comeing thither, I found a lt. colonell of
the Imperialists called Berlips, to whom I declared my commission. He
went along with me, and being come to the doore over against that of
the tower, I desired the lt. coll. and those with him not to shew them-
selves. I calling to him by his name, he opened the door a litle and asked
what I was, telling me that he thought he had seen me before. I told
him what I was, and that I had the honour of his acquaintance when I
served under the Sweds, which giveing him confidence, he {9v} opened
the doore wyder.

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Then I began first to regrate his condition and to perswade him to

patience, and submitt himself to Gods providence. I asked him what he
meant that he would not render himself. He answered that he would rather
dy as render himself to the knaves the Polls (these were his words). I
told him he should forbeare to speake so and consider his case better.
After much talke he at last said, if he must render he would do it to the
Imperialists. I told him he needed not fear any bad usage from the Polls,
the generall being a most discreet nobleman, and that by so doing he
would irritate the Polls, into whose hands the Imperialists must deliver
him, they being but auxiliaries, and they who were there being under the
command of the Prince Lubomirsky. But he would not be perswaded, so
I told him that he should come out to the Imperialists then, and calling
the lt. colonell, after some speeches with him he came forth, and getting
the planks laid over he came over, and went {10} downe with us into the
church, where calling for some bier, he offered the keyes of his trunkes
and sellar. But the sojors had found a way to open all without keyes. I went
aside and finding a great number of bookes, I chused out about 12 or 15
of the best and tooke along w[i]t[h] me.
I came to the generall and made relation to him of my negotiation,
who smiled at the mans folly or simplicity. He with the rest of the pris-
oners were sent to Thorun. Most of the sojors tooke service under the
Imperialists and Polls. At the storming one Capt. Stewart with some offic-
ers and sojors were killed, and some wounded.
The generall marched with the army towards Monto Spits39, and I
returned to my quarters, where getting a new recruit of bread and bier, I
rode to the leaguer and found the army encamped over against the Monto
Spits. They had provided great floats of timber and boats, being resolved to
storme, and all being ready, the Sweds in the night retired to Marienburg40.
This is a fort in the corner, where a branch of the river Vistula called
Nogat goeth of {10v} and, running by Marienburgh and Elbing41, falleth

  39
  Montauer Spitz.
  40
  Malbork.
  41
  Elbląg.

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into the Haffe42. There were about 300 men, whom the Sweds would not
expose to the hazard of a storme. In Grawdents there had been but about
500 foot and 40 horsemen, which indeed was but too weake a garrison
for such a place. The commendant told me he had written diverse tymes
for more men, but was told he must be content with these he had, for no
more could be spared out of other places. And this he alleadged for not
holding out above eight dayes. For on Saturnday the army came and the
next Saturday befor day the towne was taken by storme, as I said before.
The army ferryed over the Nogat into the great werder43 and encamped
within lesse as halfe a mile of Marienburgh, makeing a bridge over the
Nogat and another over the Vistula. The Imperialists went to assist the
Dansickers, who had laid siege to the Hooft44, which is a fort in a corner
or point where ane other branch of the Vistula goeth of and falleth in
the Haffe. Herein commanded Maior Generall Dankwort, haveing not
{11} above a thowsand men horse and foot in it with him. So scarse
were the Sweds of men and as scarse of any thing to maintaine them
with.
In February befor Lt. Gen-ll Wurts came through Pomeren with about
2,000 men, tooke Dirshaw45 and Colum and alarumed the Polls in their
quarters, but made no long stay. And Prince Adolph the generallissimus46,
hearing of the great preparations the Polls were makeing to come and
straiten the garrisons in Prussia, he marched of with Wurts, leaving the
government of all effaires to Graffe Oxenstern, Field Marshall von der
Linde and others, for which he was well chide by the King his brother in a
letter from Copenhagen, and not employed any more.
I went againe towards my quarters and sent againe more provisions to
the leaguer. And now, the people complaining that they were not able to
hold out or furnish any more provisions, I informed the generall hereof
and gott orders to come of and leave them. Here I had not only entertain-
  42
  Frische Haff.
  43
  Island, especially on a river (German).
  44
  Danziger Haupt (German), Głowa Gdańska (Polish).
  45
  Tczew.
  46
  Prince Adolf Johann (1629 – 1689), count Palatine, Swedish generalissimus, brother
of King Karl X Gustav of Sweden.

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ment for my self and servants, but {11v} received good gratuities besides,
especially out of Grutshno.
Being come to the leaguer, I found that the Polls had advanced with
their approaches very near to the fort at the end of the bridge. I stayed but
three dayes, when the generall upon second thoughts sent me againe with
a new order to furnish provisions. Being come to Gzin, I gott notice that a
gentleman called Konopatsky with other gentlmen had taken some sojors
who were runn away from the army and, stripping them of all they had,
had lett them go. Wherefor I tooke all the people I had, being 9 persons,
and rode over the Vistula r[iver] to diverse gentlmens houses, but found
none at home. At last where I lodged I gott notice where Konopatsky was,
so that getting up befor day, I came to him very early, and haveing heard
that he was a riotous yong man, I stood to my guard as well as I could,
ordering fowre to guard the horses, and tooke fyve into the roome with me.
I had given him short warning, yet he received me courteously
enough. Being set at the table, I told him that I had received [orders]
from the leaguer to enquire after runnawayes and bring any I could fynd
to the leaguer, and hearing that he had taken some lately, I was come
to require them. He began at first to deny all, and shewed himself very
angry that he should be questioned for any thing of that nature. {12}
But I told him that my intelligence was sure and that, albeit I would
willingly beleeve that he himself did not know any thing of it, yet his
followers had done it. Wherewith he being pacifyed, he said he would
make strict inquisition about any thing of that. I told him I beleeved
and was informed that the souldiers were let go, and all they had was
taken from them, and that I could tell the names of some who had both
cloaths and armes. At last he began and told that he had indeed heard
that a gentleman neer by, yet no depender of his, had some such things;
how he came by them he knew not, and that he might prevail with him
that upon assurance of no further trouble he should deliver. I told him
I wished not to search too deep into such business, yet that seing I had
notice of such things, I could not but enquire after it, and for letting the
people go I should passe or excuse it the best way I could. But for the
things that were taken from them, I desired they might be produced,

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which I said I would bring to the leaguer and deliver as markes of my

diligence. Whereupon he sent and in lesse as halfe ane houre there were
three livery coats, a Dutch sadle, two paire of pistolls and a buffe coat
with two leane jades.
I was indeed afrayed lest, gathering people, he should have afronted
me, albeit I was resolved {12v} to make it as dear bought to him as I
could. Yet being glad to gett any thing, I was glad to gett fairly of. And
indeed the gentlman where I quartered, who had diswaded me to medle
with him, admired how I gott any thing from him, or how I came of with-
out a quarrell.
Haveing gott my provisions ready, I returned to the army againe. In
my absence two of my ffriends, Lieutennant Adam Gordon and Ensignie
John Kenedy, were killed, the first with a cannon bullett, the other with a
small shott; who were both honourably buryed according to the souldier
fashion.
Provisions growing scarse in the army, I rode to a great fullwarke47 by
Nieuteich48, which had been assigned to the regiment of which I was quar-
term-r, and which consisted of 4 companyes of dragounes belonging to
severall lords and 4 companies of shultises49, who are souldiers oblidged to
serve for the lands they have without pay. All these were cast together and
joyned with the g[enera]lls lyfe company for the better order in marching,
fighting and encamping.
All the cornes being threshed out here befor, nothing was to be had
or exspected but straw whereof there lay great heapes. I suspecting some-
thing to be under the straw, or that it was not well threshed out, haveing
4 men of a company along with me, set them a worke to throw it over;
and haveing cast over a heape or two, wee found nothing, only I perceived
that it was not well threshen out. Wherefor I set all hands a worke and in
3 dayes threshed out of clean rey [sic] {13} about 80 bushells, of wheat 16
and of oats more as a hundred, which, have[ing] gott waggons from the
leaguer, I tooke along and was very welcome.
  47
  Folwark (Polish), Vorwerk (German) – country estate.
  48
  Nytych.
  49
  Probably a distortion of sołtys (Polish) – village elder.

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I gott an assignation to the Generall Proviantm-r Wiersbitsky for 16,000

pund of bread. So, takeing all the foriers, foriershutses50 and market tenters or
sutlers along with [me], I came to the Meve51 and receiv[ed] rey at the rate
of 80 pund to a bushell, albeit others must take at the rate of 83 pund.
I gott also a stone of a milne and a village assigned to bake the bread in.
This kept me fyve dayes.
The sutlers being unwilling to carry the bread to the leaguer, but rather
to take beer and brandewine to sell, offered me each a ducat to let them
go. I went first to the towne to see if I could light upon any vessell to send
it in by water, and espying one, I tooke their money, being 14 ducats, and
made them bring the bread befor day to the river syde; and loading it in
with all hast, I dispatched it with some of the forier-shutses and returned my
self by land. This boat belonged to the g[enera]ll proviantm-r, for w-ch he
was very angry, for haveing gott notice, he wrote to me of it to the leaguer.
I restored it to him that brought the letter, which almost broke our broth-
ership which wee had made, because he would have had it sent back to
him by my people, which I had no leasure to do.
Strasburgh and Stume52 being all this while blocked up, and the coun-
trey round long ago ruined, there was great scarsity of victualls in these
places, so that Coll. Pletner, commendant of Strasburgh, desired {13v}
liberty to send one to the generality for orders. Which being granted by
the Polls, he sent his maior who first comeing to the leaguer was lodged by
me, and dismissed to Elbing, where he received orders to capitulate, which
the commendant did shortly after Christmasse.
Haveing gott notice that many of the werders pawres53 had retired them-
selves into a strong piece of ground environed with water towards Elbing,
where they had their bestiall and of provisions good store, I told the gen-
erall hereof; who ordered me with 60 dragownes to go thither and force
them, yet to have a great care to losse no men. So, haveing taken as many

  50
  Furier-Schützen (German) – soldiers who convoyed and protected foragers or
quartermasters.
  51
  Gniew.
  52
  Brodnica and Sztum.
  53
  Boors, peasants (German: Bauern).

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loose people besides as I could gett, I marched thither. And haveing intel-
ligence that the Sweds had in a fort by Climentvaert 2 or 300 men, and that
I must passe by it within halfe a mile, and the place where these pawres
were was near a mile further, I sent 6 men well mounted to recognosce
towards that fort for fear of being circumvented by a party from thence.
I had taken some waggons with me for transporting such things as I
might stand in need of for floats. Being come within halfe a mile of the
place, and understanding that there were no more houses on the way, I
lighted and cause[d] take plankes and boords for makeing of floats, caused
fitt and joyne them and then to take them asunder for cariage sake. Whilst
I was busy and had almost all ready, these whom I had sent to recognosce
towards the Swedish fort at Climentvaert came in great hast, assureing me
that above a hundred musquetiers were ferryed over the Nogat from the
fort and were on their march to the high way, so that {14} if I did not
make hast, they would be at the passe befor me. Which made me leave all
and retire in great hast, haveing enough to do to gett my owne empty wag-
gons brought along, the way being very deep. Some shots passed betwixt
the Sweds and those with me, but without harme. I returned and gave an
acco[un]t hereof to the generall, who was glad I had escaped so, and com-
mended my dilligence and circumspection.
I received a letter out of Scotland from my dear father54.
All this tyme Maior Gordon, commonly called Steelhand, had been
entertaining hopes of getting the goods and moneyes belonging to the
deceassed Lt. Adam Gordon from his Lt. Colonell Rahtman, but he would
not condiscend to give any thing. Wherefor he promiseing to give me a
share and halfe of any thing that could be recovered, desired me to go
with Ruitm[aste]r Oliphant to the lt. colonell to know the reasons why he
would not restore these things, and to tell him that he would persue him
by law.
Wee came thither. He welcomed us and desired us to sitt downe in
his hutt, but after wee had delivered our message, and some reasoning
upon that, from one word to another, I told him that he must not think
  Patrick’s father, John Gordon of Auchleuchries, was born ca. 1610 and died shortly
  54

before 30 May 1682.

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 1659 17

to inherit that which belonged to others, and that there was justice to be
had for him and greater then he. Oliphant confirming this, he start up and
called for his palasse55. I hearing this and fearing danger within his guards
and house, gott out and to horseback, and being on the plaine free, I
called to him to come with his palasse or any other armes he pleased. But
he being calmed, came to the doore of his tent or hutt and desired me
not to take the matter so passionately, {14v} seing he meant no evill. But
to be short, after some sharp words at first, by his excuseing himself and
promise of calmer behaviour, and R-m-r Oliphants perswasions, I alighted
from my horse and went in againe, where I found a great change. He now
with many reasons argumenting why he could not give any thing he had in
his hands, as that he [Lt. Gordon] had received levy money and had given
an acco[un]t of it; had made great profitt and advantage on the march,
whereof he as lt. coll. and the company his, he was to acknowledge him,
and given him as is usuall the best share of his profitt. Besides, there had
been great exactions and exorbitancies committed in that march, whereof
he exspected dayly complaints, and for which he must alwayes be answer-
able when questioned. So that, considering the expences he had been at
in burying him so honourably, and the foresaid pretences, no man could
in reason perswade him to part with any thing. He offered, however, me
some trifles, as pistolls and such like, which I refused. At last upon our
pretences, as also of a widdow gentlwoman, to whom the deceassed had
been contracted, he consented to deliver a bond with an assignation to it,
dated 25 Oct-r, upon one W-m Gordon, merch[an]t in Konigsberg56, for
1,200 r[eichs] dollers, which seing no more could be had, wee accepted
and so parted, seeming good ffriends.
{15} Upon this Steelhand perswaded me to crave leave to go to
Konigsberg for recovery of that money. And being scarse of money, he
gott me to lend him 50 r. dollers, and so delivered me the bond w[i]t[h]
L.C. Rahtmans assignation to it.
I comeing to the generall to ask leave to go to Konigsberg for some
particular effaires, at first he denyed, saying it was no tyme to lett officers
  Pałasz (Polish) – broadsword.
  55

  Modern Kaliningrad, Russia.

  56

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of. But I urging my necessity, and that in the charge I was in, there was
now nothing to do for me, he permitted me to go and commanded to give
me a passe, but with this proviso, that I should make hast back againe,
telling me that at my returne he would give me a company, which unex-
spected promise rejoyced me very much.
So, getting my passe and promiseing to returne as soone as possi-
ble, I rode from the leaguer and lodged the first night in Niewteich by
Maior Gordon. The next day I rode by the Dantzicker Hooft, which the
Imperialists and Dantzickers had strictly besieged, and crossing an arme
of the ri. Vistula, lodged in a place called the Studthoffe. The third day I
rode along the Nering57, having the Baltick Sea on my left hand, and the
Haffe on my right, this Nering being a long narrow neck of land lying
betwixt the Baltick Sea {15v} and the Fresh Haffe, being a great lake. I
lodged this night at the syde of the arme of the sea, w-ch floweth into
the lake (or through which the lake floweth into the sea), being pretty late
befor I gott to my lodging.
Early the next morning I was ferryed over the river, and haveing some
letters to a lt. colonell who was vice-commendant of the Pillaw58, I lighted
at ane inns and sent the letters by a servant. The lt. coll. sent a officer to
desire me to come into the fort, which by great entreaty I did. The lt. coll.
was very kind and would needs engage me by paroll in my returne to call in
to him, and cause receive the returnes to these I sent him. I rode through
a small fisher towne on the Haffe called Fishhausen and at night lodged in
the red krue59 or inns on the other syde of the Green bridge.
The next morning I went and enquired for W-m Gordon, and he not
being at home, I spoke with his brother in law, who told that he thought
that he could not pay that money to us, notwithstanding of the bond,
because he knew that the deceassed had neerer ffriends in Scotland as any
of us, who would undoubtedly come and persue the said William. After
much reasoning I told him that he might keep himself out of Polland, if
he did not satisfy us. But nothing prevailing, I parted and went and sought
  57
  Frische Nehrung (Vistula Spit).
  58
  Modern Baltiysk, Russia.
  59
  Krug (German) – inn or tavern.

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up Adam Gordon of Ardlogy, who, I heard, was in towne. I found him in

a Scotsmans house in the place called the Freedome. Wee conversed two
dayes together,
{16} Oct-r 15 st.vet.60 and he going to Scotland, I did writt with him to
my father and ffriends. And haveing bought some necessaries, I rode from
Konigsberg and lodged a mile from thence in a krue or inns. Next morn-
ing, haveing breakfast and baited my horses in a Scotsmans house by the
way, I came about midday to the Pillaw.
Comeing near the fort, I saw the gates shutt and the bridge drawne up.
I called to the sentry and desired the officer of the guard to informe the lt.
coll. what I was, who immediately sent an officer to conduct me into the
fort. He brought me to another house as I was in befor, where I found the
lt. coll. ready to sitt downe to dinner, here being a wedding. After some
complements the lt. coll. desired me, and made the bridegroome do so
too, to dine with them, which I excused as much as possible, being loth
to be hindred in my jorney and to be plyed with cups as I knew I should
be there. Yet nothing could help, I must stay and was placed in another
roome with a number of officers. They plyed me very hard with drink-
ing of healths in strong bier, and the p[rinci]p[a]ll healths in wyne. Yet, I
haveing spared my self at first, when no notice was taken of drinking out,
found shortly that I had a great advantage of the rest, albeit I professed
otherwise.
After the tables were drawne, the lt. coll. with Capt. Patrick Hamilton
came into the roome and perceiving or alleadging me to be fresher and
soberer as the rest, chide them and called for a large cup; which going
diverse tymes about, and I keeping still my advantage, they would needs
perswade me to dance, which I excused {16v} as being ill accoutred with
boots and spurrs for dancing. But he not prevailing, caused his daughter
come in to desire and invite me. She being a very handsome yong lady, I
could not get refused. Being come among the ladies, after I had saluted

  Until the middle of the eighteenth century Britain used the Julian, Old Style calen-
  60

dar. However, when in Poland, Patrick Gordon often used the Gregorian (New
Style) calendar already adopted by Roman Catholics, ten days in advance of the
Julian in the seventeenth century.

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the bride particularly and the rest of the ladies in a generall way, I desired
to be excused that being so ill accoutred as on a jorney, I had let my self
be perswaded to adventure amongst them, desireing them to beleeve that
it was by the powerfull eloquence of their sexe, and not by any inclination
of my owne, to come in such a posture. After a dance or two, whereby
the lt. coll. and the rest imagined that I should be intoxicated, I returned
soberer as I was, which they seeing, and that I still keeping my man, would
see my self pledged obliging all to do the lyke, they desisted and kept on
their ordinary course.
I lodged in Capt. Hamiltons chamber, where wee slept but litle, each
relateing to other a progresse of our lyfe. In the morning early I went to
the lt. coll-s lodging, and takeing leave I rode away, and crossing by boat
the passage, I lodged in the Studthoffe and the next night returned to our
leaguer, where I understood that the gen-ll had sent twice to ask if I was
returned. Wherefor I went immediately to his Exc. and found him at sup-
per with the French ambassadour L’Ombres. After supper he tooke notice
of me and bidd me show my self the next morning early.
I came very early to the generall and found no body with him but his
secretary and the pages. He told me that he was resolved to forme a regi-
ment of dragowns, {17} and that he would give me a company of the
Sweds prisoners who were in the Meve, and ordered the secretary to writt
ane order to the commendant of the Meve, called P. Bronsky, to give out
such prisoners to me as would grant to take service of the Crowne and
Republick of Polland; as also a patent or passe to march up with them to
my assigned locality or quarters, and consulting with the secretary con-
cerning, he allowed Old Sandets61, a place on the Hungarian borders, with
its appendances, being another litle towne with about 50 small villages. I
desired some armes, at least 24 musquets, which he granted and sent ane
order to Lt. Coll. Giza to give them. I desired also a forier shuts along with
me, which was granted. The same day I received the muskets, but never
one of them fixed. However I must be content, and knowing that my
orders were all ready, I made also ready to be gone the next. I restored to

  Stary Sącz.
  61

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M[ajor] Gordon the bond upon W-m Gordon, and kept only the assigna-
tion, he still remaining owing to me 50 r. dollers.
No[vembe]r 14 s.n. The next morning early I received my orders,
wherein was also that the Mevish commendant should give the officers
there in prison such liberty, and upon such assurance as I should think fitt.
The generall told me that I should be carefull and vigilant, and not do nor
let the sojours do any exorbitancies or oppression by the way, but hold good
and strict discipline. And so, being dismissed very favourably, I marched
from the leaguer, haveing in my company two gentlemen who had been
towarises62 and were failed, they being recommended to me by our marshall
Bielsky. A dragouner I had also, and a Swedish drummer and fyve servants.

{17v} Befor I go further, I must relate as much of the publick effaires as

came to my knowledge, and that only such as passed in and concerning the
Polls warrs in Prussia and the neerest places.
The Polls were active this summer and harvest, albeit the cavalierie
of the field marshalls63 division did not advance into the fields so soon
as the infantery. The Polls I meane, for the strangers regiments marched
and rendevouzed in due tyme and place, pretending satisfaction as to pay;
yet being contented, they came in October to the siege of Marienburgh,
where they were not much necessary and had but a cold reception.
In Courland the Polls tooke the townes Golding[en], Libaw and
Windaw64. Komorofsky, a gallant colonell of the Polls, dyed here. A party
goer called the Blind Serjeant beat and tooke M. G-ll Adergasse betwixt
Gemelli and Bausky65 by a surprize, few of 400 men escapeing.
The Sweds66 [sic] continued the siege of Marienburgh with great indus-
try, albeit there was small hopes even at first of forcing it to any surrender,
farr lesse of takeing it. As also did the Imperialists and Dantsickers the
Hooft, but with better successe. For after they had advanced with their
  62
  Towarzysz (Polish) – literally, comrade. In the Polish army, a member of a national
cavalry unit (chorągiew), usually a gentleman.
  63
  Prince Jerzy Lubomirski.
  64
  Modern Kuldiga, Liepaja and Ventspils in Latvia.
  65
  Modern Žeimelis in Lithuania and Bauska in Latvia.
  66
  Author’s slip: the Swedes were besieged in Marienburg by the Poles.

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approaches to the ditches, and from batteryes which they had made from
both sides of the Vistula and the Nering beat downe all their brestworke,
and so plyed them that no body durst appear upon the wall. Neither could
the blinds in a tyme of truce they had set up help them much. So that
being much straitned, they were forced to capitulate, and accorded upon
usuall honourable conditions the 20 of December, and two dayes thereaf-
ter Maior Generall Dankwort {18} marched out with 300 horsemen and
450 foot, and was convoyed to Dantzick. The Dantzickers, who had most
nobly all the tyme of this warr asserted the cause of their prince and coun-
trey, and had been at vast expences, and now at this siege spared not for
any thing, caused coine a piece of money, on the one syde whereof stood
the siege of the Hooft and thereabout: Causa Deo placuit, sed et arma juvan-
tia causam67; on the other syde: Deo opt. max., auspice Rege, conatibus fidelium
civium, coram aspirante etc.68
In the meane tyme the French ambassadour L’Ombres with his col-
legue Baron d’Isola69 used all endeavours to bring these warres to an end
by a treaty. Both were wearyed enough and more as willing to treat. Yet,
after the King of Polland had declared the utmost length he would go, and
some tyme spent about the place of treaty, the Sweds desiring Brawnsberg
or Frawensberg70, and the Imperialists and Polls Oliva, a monastery near
Dantzick, which at length was agreed on, and the treaty to begin the second
of Ja[nua]ry.
On the 13th of December the King and Queen71 of Polland with
the French Ambassadour L’Ombres came to Dantzick. The French
Ambassadour L’Ombres was accepted for mediator by all parties. The
Hollands Extraordinary Deputy Johan van den Honard had been at Varso
in June with offer of mediation from the States72, which was accepted of by
the King and Republick of Polland. But being now come to Dantzick, his
  67
  “The cause has pleased God, but also the arms assisting the cause” (Lat.).
  68
  “By the supreme will of God, o happy King, by the efforts of faithful subjects,
before the aspiring etc.” (Lat.).
  69
  Baron Franz Paul von Lisola (1613 – 1674), distinguished Imperial diplomat.
  70
  Braniewo, where Gordon studied in the Jesuit College, and Frombork.
  71
  Maria Ludovica, consort of King Jan II Kazimierz.
  72
  States-General of the United Provinces, i.e. the Dutch parliament.

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 1659 23

mediation was declined by the Sweden, which vexed the States {18v} not
a litle. However, the treaty went forward and came to a happy issue shortly
thereafter.73 In the meane tyme the armyes drew of from Marienburgh
and went into their quarters.
I shall at this tyme say nothing of what passed this year in the Ukraina,
which was also a stage of great action, but reserve the warrs of the
Cosakes, Moskovites and Tartars with the Polls to another place, intend-
ing to relate a series of that warrs apart. And now to my owne particular.

The day I marched from the leaguer I passed the bridge on the r. Vistula
and lodged in the werder betwixt Dirshaw and the Meve, and the next
morning came early to the Meve, and delivering my orders to the com-
mendant, I dined with Paprotsky, the great director of all our generall his
domestick effaires.
The next morning I went to the castle and caused the p[rinci]p[a]ll per-
sons of the Swedish prisoners to be brought befor me. I enquired how they
did and what usage they had. They made a sadd complaint of the strictnes
they were used with. I told them it was their owne fault, for our people did
meet with harder usage by the Sweds, as also they had made no applications
to the generall for greater freedome. However, I told them that the generall
had sent me thither to take notice of the estate they were in, and to give
them such liberty as usuall and the present tyme and place could permitt.
The chieffe prisoners were seven: one Maior Ellert, a gen. proviantmaster,
Ruitmaster Mellentin, two lieutenants and two ensignies. I desired a written
paroll from them all, and that the maior {19} would give apart a written
paroll for himself and also for the rest, which after some argumenting
was granted. I keeped the maior by me and dismissed the rest, and then
caused call all the rest of the prisoners, who were about 130. I caused call
them one by one and enquired of them who would serve the Crowne of
  The Peace of Oliwa between Poland-Lithuania with her allies and Sweden was
  73

signed on 23 April (3 May) 1660. By its terms the King of Poland renounced
his claims to the Swedish crown, Poland formally ceded to Sweden Livonia and
the city of Riga. The Hohenzollern dynasty of Brandenburg was confirmed as
independent and sovereign over the Duchy of Prussia, previously held as a fief
of Poland.

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Polland in the quality of a dragowner. Most of them all consented, but the
maior (whom I trusted, haveing been acquainted with him befor under the
Sweds), haveing a mind to engage in the Polls service himself, told me that
there were many amongst them who had wiwes and children, and others
good meanes amongst the Swedes. So that albeit they now, to be freed of
their imprisonment, would promise to take service, yet they would not
go farr with me, but run over. Which I beleeving, desired him to give me
notice when any such person was called, which he promised, and did so
by a signe. And I haveing a roll befor me, accordingly noted them downe
and left them out of the roll of these I tooke along.
And so by this undermineing I wanted near 30 of the best men, whom
shortly thereafter he, takeing service, gott loose and made trowpers.
Albeit, as they told me thereafter, they had rather have gone with me, and
wondred why I did leave in a manner the best men who were willing to
serve, not knowing any thing of such double dealing!
I tooke away the next morning 76 men, 20 whereof were sick, for
whom I gott waggons, and for them all bread and beer. I marched about a
mile and a halfe and lodged in a village neer the r. Vistula. {19v} Meve is
built upon a hill, haveing a stone wall about it and a castle on the east, well
walled also and large. The rivolet Fers, haveing watered Shoneck, Stargart74
and the monastery Pe[l]plin, comeing from the north-west, runneth by
this towne into the Vistula.
I had forgott to tell that by the written paroll, which I gott from Maior
Ellert and the rest and gave in custody to the commendant, I gave them
the liberty of the castle, and then by great entreaty the liberty of the towne
also; for so the order to the commendant was, to give them such liberty
as I should find convenient. To the others of lower quality I caused give
better convenience of roomes in the castle, with liberty for some of them
now and then to walke in the castle and go into the towne for necessaries
with a sentry or guard with them.
Neither can I let passe a story to show the generosity of the generall.
These Sweds befor I came thither were all closs prisoners in vaults under

  Starogard.
  74

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 1659 25

the ground, and a litle tyme befor, whether to try to escape or to try con-
clusions, they digged through a wall into another vault, where was laid
up the generalls provisions of wyne, which they made bold with and at
diverse tymes drunk out 2 or 3 hogsheads. When it was missed, and the
hole found, and they questioned and threatened for it, they excused them-
selves only by saying they had drunk the generalls good health in it. When
this was told the generall, he was at supper in the leaguer, and albeit at first
he seemed a litle moved with it, yet asking if they had not remembred him
when they drunk so much, the servant saying that that was all the excuse
{20} they made, that they had drunk his Exc. good health, he said, “Much
good do it them!”, and forbidd to trouble them for it.
This night I slept litle, causing my servants ride up and downe the street
and round the village, for fear that any of them should escape, the Sweds gar-
risons being so near. For I did writt back unto the generall and gave account
of what I had done and sent the names of those I tooke out of prison.
In the morning I mustered them and divided them into fyles, dealing
the sick and weake men equally among the files. I made Pawl Banser, who
had been a quartermaster under the Sweds, wachtmaster75; Adam Young,
who had been a freetrowper, being of Scots parents and haveing the Polls
language, I made forier or quarterm-r; Elias Funk and William Rundt, who
had been corporalls, in the same charge, and the lyklyest and sharpest like
men to be file-leaders. I gave the musquets to these who were best able to
cary them; and giveing them orders and injunctions how to behave them-
selves, I marched in some better order as the day befor.
The orders I gave were: that they should by no meanes offer violence
to any person, be content with such entertainment as the countrey people
should be able to give them; that they who were in health should take a
speciall care of the sick, and both help them forwards {20v} and to acco-
modate them in their quarters; that these who had gott armes should keep
them fixe, and by no meanes stray or stay behind another on the march;
that by no meanes they should tell or say that they were Swedish prisoners,
but a ruined Polnish company.

  Wachtmeister (German) – sergeant major.

  75

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 26 1659

I promised to take a care for their accommodation in quartering and

marching, and see to furnish them with whole and warme cloaths and
boots as soone as possible; and that it could not be done now, they must
take in good part, seing I was but a new plenisher my self. They rendring
many thanks and promiseing obedience, wee marched by a towne called
Neyenburgh76, which is situated on a hill by the Vistula and hath a very
fair prospect up and downe the said river and over the adjacent countrey.
I marched a mile further and quartered among Dutch pawres, where
W-m Guild77 lay safeguard, whom I had sent from the leaguer hither. I
gave orders that the sick people above all should be taken care of, and
victualls given them moderately, especially that no milk should be given
them, but the Danes of whom there were about 20 could not be keeped
from the milk. I perswaded those who were in health also to be moderate
at first in feeding, being dangerous for men {21} who had suffered hunger
any tyme. I stayed here two nights and dispatched from hence a drummer
with my servant to Thorun to buy white taffety and necessaryes for a col-
lour, and a drumme.
I marched very early, haveing Graudents on the other syde of the river
on my left hand, and all along by the river to the towne Swetds78. Here is a
strong tower castell. The towne was all ruined; a litle r[ivule]t called Bdo79
watereth it on the north syde and falleth here in the r. Vistula.
I marched about a mile further and quartered amongst Dutch pawre[s],
where wee were well accommodated. The next day two of the Danes dyed,
whom I caused bury in the afternoone, and the day thereafter marched by
Grutzno, and so out of that low countrey up to the high, as into another
world. This night dyed another Dane, and diverse more of the sojours did
fall sick. Haveing buryed the sojour, I marched, and the next day crossing
a litle river called [ … ], I quartered a mile further in a small village.
The King passed by to Dantzick. I stayed in this village two dayes and
  76
  Neuenburg (German), Nowe (Polish).
  77
  The Scot William Guild, Gordon’s former comrade with the Life Company of
Swedish Field Marshal Count Robert Douglas, was to serve under Gordon for
both Poland and Russia. He died a lieutenant colonel in Мoscow in 1685.
  78
  Świecie (Polish), Schwetz (German).
  79
  Wda.

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buryed three sojours, they notwithstanding all prohibition and care surfet-
ting themselves with victualls and dying. Here my servant Porembsky with
my drummer came to me from Thorun. I caused beat on my collours and
fitt the drumme, and marched more formally.
I came afterwards to a small towne by a broad morass, whither came
also a guard with Swedish prisoners who had been taken in Golding[en],
of whom I learned the state of effaires in Cureland, and how the Sweds
this last harvest had but badd luck and successe. Here were the ruins of a
great earthen fort, which had been made in the tyme of the crosse-bearers
warrs with the Polls, or the pagan Prussians with the Christians.
I marched {21v} and quartered in a village, where many of the sojors
grew sick and some of my servants. Here I buryed another sojor, and
marching quartered in a litle well built woodden towne. From hence I
marched and lodged in a village, where my servant Porembsky getting
an extraordinary violent fitt of a hott feaver, so that he fell a raveing the
whole night and could not be kept in the bed, and dyed towards day.
Haveing buryed him, I marched, and about a mile from this quarter a
sojour dyed on the waggon, whom I caused bury by the high way.
I had above 30 sick men, and notwithstanding all the care I tooke, and
causeing take of them, by provideing waggons for them, causeing give
them wholesome food and comfortable drink, and giveing them cloaths
and shubes80 where and how soone I could gett them furnished, yet they
sickened dayly and dyed. And at last I my self grew so sick that I could
neither eat nor drink. And because the pest was in Thorun, and that my
servant immediately upon his returne from thence, and so many of the
sojors sickened and dyed, I suspected that the pest had broke in upon us.
Yet I concealed my sickness and let no body know my condition. For have-
ing none with me that could order business if I should have been knowne
to be sick, all would have lossed their hearts, and none would have suffered
us to quarter in any towne or village, as looking upon us as pested people.
Wee marched by Znin on the left hand and quartered in a {22} village
a short mile from it. Here I buryed ano-r servant and two sojors, who

  Fur coats (Polish and Russian).

  80

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dyed in the night. I marched further and visited the sick in the field. My
servants diswaded me from going neer them, affirming that their sickness
was a pest, and that both the deceassed servants had blew markes on their
body, the assured signes of the pest; which I did not regard, but giveing
them some good waters mixed with theriacle81, comforted them the best
way I could.
The weather being chillish cold and the sojors naked, these in health
were in great perplexity, and the sick altogether desperate, considering the
nature of the disease, w-ch was indeed infectious, and the approaching
cold of the winter, which grieved me very much, not knowing of nor have-
ing any meanes to help them. By the way a sojour dyed, whom I caused
bury at the next village, and two sojors sickened suddainly, all complaining
of an extraordinary paine in their heads, which troubled me most also.
The next day two sojors dyed, whom to make the less noise I caused
bury quietly by the way. I drew as near Posna82 as I could, intending for
my owne and the peoples health to advise and gett remedy of a doctor, a
Jew, who was much commended for his skill. I came to a litle towne called
{22v} Czarnieva, where I was so sick that I was scarse able to sit by the
table, yet kept my self so that no body perceived it. And now, being as
near Posna as I could conveniently come with the company, I resolved to
ride thither, giveing orders to W-m Guild (whom I tooke along with me
and given him the command next to my self) to march towards Pisdra83,
and getting good information, I noted downe the villages where he should
quarter; being such and belonging to such persons as I knew would not
question or hinder his quartering.
I rose about midnight and taken halfe a dozen of servants (for now I
had furnished my self on the way with enough of these) I rode towards
Posna, commanding two with a guide to ride befor and 4 after me. I was
so sick and so faint, especially my head was so heavy that I was not able
almost to sitt on my horse, which I told my servants now as a suddaine
fitt, that in the night tyme they might have the better care of me. Yet after
  81
  Theriac or theriaca was a medical ointment or potion of varying composition.
  82
  Poznań.
  83
  Pyzdry.

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 1659 29

day light I grew better, and indeed was necessitated to show my self so, for
my servants began to be afrayed to come near me, as fearing the infection.
In the evening I came to Posna, and sending befor to the commendant
for a lodging, I was presently admitted into the towne and a quarter {23}
given me. The next day, being Saturnday, I went to seek out the doctor,
and hearing he was in the synaguogue [sic], I went thither and caused call
him out. He came readily, and I after the premisses of an excuse for trou-
bling him in the tyme of his devotion, told him the nature of my disease.
He looked upon me earnestly, and haveing feeled my pulses, he told me
I should go to a surgeon and let blood of the cephalick veine, and that I
should go to the apothecary and gett 2 or 3 doses of pills (he giveing me in
a note, Pillulae Caphalicae84), which I should use at convenience. I told him
that not only I my self, but a great many of my company were troubled
with the same disease. He told me I should cause let them blood in the
cephalick veine and buy so many doses of these pills as I should think fitt,
and give them. I thanked him heartily and offered him two ducats for his
paines, which he refused, telling me that he was obliged to help way fare-
ing men and sojours for nought, but whither he did this upon the account
of the Sabbath or generosity, I know not.
I went immediately to the surgeon and let blood, which even in the
very instant of letting blood gave me great ease, and as it were at that
instant cured me. I went afterwards to the apothecary and bought for 10
dollers of pills for my self and sojors. I bought also fyve muskets and
some powder and lead, and a pair of Scots pistolls with an English horse-
graith, {23v} for which I gave 28 florens to a Scotseman. I supped by
James Ferguson, and the next day dyned by Robert Ferquhar, the two
p[rinci]p[a]ll Scots merchants in the towne.
I rode away befor evening in farr better health, praised be God, as
when I came, and lodged in a village 2 miles of, and riseing early, I rode to
Szroda and dyned. And in the afternoon I rode and sent to diverse villages
befor I gott notice of the company, which I found quartered in a village a
short mile from Pisdry, and came to them very late in the night.

  Head pills (Lat.).

  84

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 30 1659

I came to Pisdry, where I caused let blood of all the sick men, being 23
(two haveing dyed whilst I was in Posna). I bought also 28 paire of boots,
w-ch were all I could find ready in the towne, and offering to stay all night,
the magistrates came to me and offered a discretion not to stay. So, have-
ing got boots for most of all my people that wanted, and something over,
I marched and quartered in a village a mile from thence.
Hitherto I had gott but litle money upon my march, the countrey
being altogether ruined, but now finding the countrey better inhabited,
I resolved to use the fashion of the countrey and gather what I could
without giveing great occasion to complaine on me. I had one great hin-
derance accompanyed with danger, which was that the generalls a litle
befor had sent out strict universalls or mandates to all the palatinates or
counties to suppress or send up to the armyes any straying companies or
supplements, who were marching through the countrey.
And indeed there had been great abuse {24} in these things, for the
captaines, pretending that their companies were ruined and diminished,
or rather haveing of purpose suffered them to be ruined, or ruined them
themselves, usually procured patents for recruits, and then many of them
or all for a piece of money procured 2, 3, 4 or more patents, pretending
the shortnes of tyme, and that to have them ready at the allowed tyme
they must send severall officers to diverse places. And these officers going
to Prussia or the borders of Pomerania, would begin their march, and
so by marching hither and thither, to the Podgurs85 and Hungarian bor-
ders, would not leave a village nor small towne w-ch must not give them
contribution, or else they would quarter and lodge in them; where they
used great excesse, abuses and exorbitancies whereby private persons were
enriched, and the whole countrey ruined.
And there were many officers who made a trade of this, who haveing
compassed or traversed the most part of the kingdome, brought companies
to the rendevouse or near the army, and delivering them of to colonells
or other officers, received money or new patents (w-ch was better) for
them. And albeit their patents were written with severe restrictions, yet

  Podgórze – part of southern Poland, adjacent to Carpathian mountains.

  85

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being armed with power, no body durst question or desire them to show
their orders, only a forme of their owne as a true copy of their orders or
patents was caryed about by each forrier or company quarterm-r, and that
{24v} not to be showne but upon great necessity. And albeit ordinary levy
money was given from the Crowne to the colonells, yet the colonells being
most of them senators and noblemen, and they giveing to the captaines
and other officers for levying of their companies but a very small portion,
not only connived at, but even allowed such abuses. And these few
colonells who were strangers, being either needy or greedy persons, used
the same wayes.
And albeit many complaints, and even generally, in the Parliament,
at the Tribunal and Commissions were preferred, yet could not a way
be fallen upon or concluded in such tymes as to forbidd transeant free
quarter. But this year all armyes being in the fields and in action, and
some complaints being brought in of recruits not come and not willing
to come to the armyes, the fores[ai]d orders were sent to all the countyes.
Whereupon the countrey gentlmen bestirred themselves and had comit-
tees in each countey for restraining and regulateing such abuses, and had,
as I was informed, ruined diverse companies and recruits who stood to
faint defence or let themselves be surprized.
To prevent any danger this way, befor I entred any countey, I sent
befor to the committee to give notice of my march, sending them a
formall but not reall copy of my passe or universall, which tooke away
all collour of offering violence to me, farr lesse hindring me of a tran-
seant quarter. In Great Polland also the Polls of Czarnetskyes86 division
come lately from Denmarke were quartered, so that to incroach or be
burthensome to their assigned quarters was both unreasonable {25} and
unpracticable. These things hindred me from makeing such advantage by
this march as had been done by others. It was no small motive for me
also to deale fairely. That being my first employment, I studyed that no
complaints should come upon me, who being to be alwayes so near the
generall, must be more obnoxious to these as others. Whereby I knew
  Stefan Czarniecki (1599 – 1665), one of the greatest Polish commanders of his time,
  86

from 1657 wojewoda of Ruthenia (Lwów province).

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I should improve the good opinion the generall had conceived of me

already.
Yet, not to be altogether negligent or unprovident, I used this method
in my march. I informed my self well and particularly of all the townes
and villages in my way to the right and left hand, as well as directly befor
me, and to whom they belonged. If to any great and especially military or
court person, and that his residence was there or neare by, I caused go by
such; as also such who had any kindred or dependance on our generall, or
were conspicuous for publick imployments. The Kings and church lands
I quartered on or tooke contribution in a reasonable way, according to the
greatnes of the towne or village, as also the lands of the gentlemen, who
were absent or not military persons, were subject to the lyke. But where
I quartered, I kept as faire and did as litle harme as possible, and where
the gentlemen were civill and obliging, I caused give beer, brandy and
many tymes other provisions out of the store I gathered by the way and
caryed along with me. For where no money was to be had, I caused receive
bread, beer, brandy, speck, butter, cheese, groats and such like, and which
indeed I caused alwayes seeke at first, which to spare podvods87 or cariages
the countrey people were {25v} glad oftentymes to convert to our better
content into money.
I did not march early. By day light I sent out quartermasters to the right
and left hand with particular instructions, according to my information
how to behave my self, who gave me constant advertisements of such
as would not compound or gave too litle, to which places I marched and
quartered. These who went directly befor me went later out, who also sent
their advertisements. Sometymes by reason of stopping by the way untill
composition were made and advertisements gott, the pawres in such vil-
lages where I came to quarter, haveing gott notice, retired themselves with
all into their gentlmens or priests houses, so that these being priviledged
nothing was to be had, but such as they could not cary along. In this case I
caused distribute of my provisions abundantly to all, that the poor sojors
might not want nor have cause to murmur.

  Carts (Russian and Polish).

  87

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 1659 33

For my quartermasters I made use of the two gentlemen who came

with me from the leaguer and Adam Yong, sending servants of my owne
along with them for the better surety; who besides what they agreed for,
for me and the company, forgott not to take their owne shares, under the
notion of contenting them for their paines. As for cariages for my provi-
sions, being once provided, I never parted with these, keeping them under
strong guards, untill I was provided of others, dismissing these I had long-
est first.
Being come near Calish88, I rode thither and bought some necessaryes.
I marched by Calish and Sierads on my left hand, being both p[rinci]p[a]ll
{26} townes and walled; the first in a marish by the r-r Proszna, the other
hath a castle by the river Warta. Not farr from the last I crossing a brooke,
quartered in a large village belonging to a widdow, who comeing to my
lodging which I had taken up in a innes, she beseeched me if possible to
march further, which because the sojors well [sic] all wet and being near
evening I could not do. So, desiring that no exorbitances might be done
to the pawres, she gave me an invitation to her house to a game at cards.
I went thither and after gameing supped, and for her civility and good
entertainment caused give provisions of beer and brandy to the sojors
out of my owne store. Not farr from this I was very well entertained by
Koslovsky, the gentleman who came with me from the leaguer, in his or
his ffriends house.
Passing by Vielun on my right hand, one of my quartermasters come-
ing to a gentlmans village for contribution, found the starost of Babimost
there newly lighted, who in a peremptory way asking what they would
have, where the company was and where it would quarter, was answered
to the last that they thought, in a village a mile from thence, pointing the
way towards it. He told them that his sister dwelt {26v} there, and that
they should immediately be gone and tell me that I should not quarter
there, or he would beat up my quarters. I getting this notice in the village
befor I had dismissed the sojors to their quarters, lodged them in some
few houses neer my self and sent to the rest of the houses for provisions,

  Kalisz.
  88

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 34 1659

and where the landlords were obstinate, they tooke what they could get,
as hens or swine.
About an houre thereafter my watch came and told me that 10 or 12
horsemen were comeing over the fields to the village. I caused keep good
guards, and they comeing directly to my quarters, caused address be made
by an under officer who had charge of the gate, saying they were come
from the starost of Babimost with a commission to me. I caused admitt 3
or 4 of them and keep the rest at the doore. Being come into the roome,
they delivered their message in lofty termes, as that their lord wondered
that I would offer to quarter in his sisters village, knowing his quality,
service and merits to the Republick, whereof he had advertised me by my
quarte[r]masters; that beside he heard that my sojors were quartered but
in some few houses, and were going throw the village, {27} killing hens
and takeing swine, and doing great excesses. So they desired me as from
him and counselled me as from themselves that I would remove farther.
I answered them at first very calmly and told them that I had marched
three miles that day, being too much for a Sunday; that following my
intende[d] tract, I had neither declined to the right nor to the left, and
when the tyme of the day allowed it, I had quartered in the first village I
came at; that he knew sojors caryed no provisions along with them, and
haveing no pay were to be defrayed where they lodged; that for my quar-
tering so closs, I had indeed ordered it otherwise, but receiving a message
with threats from their lord, I found it expedient to be upon my guard;
that some sojors indeed, upon my orders, had gone throw the village to
their formerly assigned quarters to crave provisions for their supper, which
being denyed, they had perhaps made bold with what they found neerest
at hand, wherein I am sure no excesse was done, seing no more was taken
as they could conveniently make their supper of; if any swine were taken,
it was only to make the landlords redeeme them with some victualls, which
he might better spare.
But they not satisfyed herewith, urged my removall, and casting in
some threatening words from their master. I tooke them up shortly and
{27v} told them that as their perswasions, being so unreasonable, could
not move me, so their threats farr lesse; that I had a lord and master who

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would owne me, and that for my self, I was of no such soft mettall or
meane spirit as to be frightened into any thing; that if their master would
attempt any thing against me, he should fynd me upon my guard, and
might buy any thing he did at as deare a rate as ever he did any thing.
They going away stomachating89, I told them for a farewell that their lord
should not find me sleeping as he did Capt. Robison. This Robison, stay-
ing behind his company in a innes and sleeping at a table, this same starost
had killed the year befor, together with a brother of his who offered to
resist.
These being gone, I cause[d] draw my sojors into 4 houses next me
and keept good guard, albeit I was but ill armed, and many sick and weake.
However I heard no more of him, only an houre thereafter a gentleman
came to me from the widdow gentlewoman, desireing that the pawres
might have their swine againe, and she would cause give some provi-
sions out of her house, which I gladly accepted. So a while thereafter
they brought some bread, beer and groats, and for me a flaggon of spe-
ciall beer and a glasse of very good brandy. Notwithstanding of this, I
keept good guards and did not sleep my self the whole night, {28} and so
marched away the next morning early.
Being come not farr from Vidava, I was much troubled at a river
encreased by the raines, so that I could not gett it passed, haveing but a
small boat. I caused swimme over my rideing horses and sent the company
with the baggage a great way further downe to cross at a milne. I rideing
directly to the towne, tooke up my quarters, the company and baggage
comeing late in the night, and with great difficulty had passed the river at
the milne. And a great frost being in the evening, the wett sojors were glad
of warme and well provided lodgings.
The next day after breakfast I caused beat a gathering, but after a long
tyme very few repairing to the collours, I marched away with such as I
could gett, and made hault a mile of for the rest, leaving some officers to
drive them out. They came dropping at last one by one, most drunk. Here I
receaved a letter from the provost and magistrates of Vidava, dated 18 Dec-

  Indignant, angry (Scots).

  89

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ris, being the same day, that two in German habite, whom they supposed
to be of my company, were found dead on the way betwixt the river and
the towne, and immediately after my departure brought, who being thinne
apparrelled, they supposed to be frozen to death, there being no markes
nor any appearance of violence upon their body; desireing to know what
should be done with them. I sent them word by {28v} their owne that they
might bury them, beleeving well that they had not gott any violence.
I marched towards Kamiensk, the residence of Varsitsky, the lord of
Krakow90, being the first secular senatour of the Kingdome and a very
cross-grain’d nobleman, especially to sojors. Whereof haveing notice given
me by the way, I commanded the quarterm-r to see what he could gett with
fairness, and by no meanes to quarter in the towne. The towne gave a tunne
of beer and 50 great loaves of bread, with two gallons of brandy, which
they said they did without the knowledge of their lord, who would not
allow of giveing any thing. I quartered halfe a mile from thence [in] a vil-
lage belonging to a gentleman, who much regrated the bad neighbourship
of the fores-d lord, as to transeant quarters. The next day I was very well
entertained by a gentlman at dinner, where I heard excellent musick both
vocall and instrumentall. I quartered this night a mile short of Przedbors.
The next day, being the 22 of December and Moonday, I marched
through Przedbors and dined with a gentleman called Porembsky, where
I was very well entertained, as I had been in many places befor, and had
both vocall and instrumentall musick, every gentlman of quality {29}
being furnished herewith. And indeed the Polls gentry are very good and
hearty houskeepers, their wiwes also extraordinary industrious in haveing
all things within their houses wherewith to make up multitudes and variety
of dishes. And albeit many of their houses looke very wast lyke, as being
destitute of hangings, standing beds, stooles or pictures, as haveing only
opposite to the table a carpet or two on each side of the corner of the
wall, on which their armes sometymes, as bowes and arrowes with cases,
pistolls and rideing furniture for horses beat with silver and overgilded, as
also their shables91 or simitars, and then sometymes a picture or two; yet
  Stanisław Warszycki (1599 – 1681), kasztelan of Krakow.
  90

  Szabla (Polish) – sabre.
  91

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ther is superfluity of good, well dressed victualls and liquor. At dinner

the lady sits in company, as also their daughters and kinswomen without
exception as with us in Scotland.
When the tables are drawne, the yong ladyes ordinarily entertaine
their ffriends with vocall musick, makeing no scruple, being commanded
thereto by the lord of the house, untill the servants have dined; who after-
wards come in and as the company and occasion serves, they begin to play
upon violins, viol-de-gambo or cimball, makeing a pretty good harmo[ny]
in their owne countrey tunes, haveing of late also used themselves to for-
reigne melodies, yet such as {29v} hath some conformity and consonancy
with their owne.
Melancholy they cannot well away with. If you drink to be merry, or be
familiar with them, then will they invite and even urge you to dance. They
dance by paires, so many paires as the roome is well capable of.
The women ar very joviall, merry and confident with great discretion,
whom you must by no meanes in saluting kiss, nor in most places shake
hands either, only with a profound reverence. With the ordinary sort you
may stoop, as if to take them with both your hands, or embrace them as
low downe as their knees, yet without letting them feele you and retireing
as soone as possible; with these of higher degree, after a French mode,
putting your hand as low downe, but not near the hem of their garments;
and with these of the highest, or farr above your degree, a profound rever-
ence at a great distance, but “Holla, whither do I go?”.
I lodged this night in a village belonging to Maior Cromblevsky, and
the next day I marched and lodged all night in Malogost92, a compact
woodden towne.
On Wednesday, being Christmasse Eve, I marched and quartered in
Jendrzeiowa, another woodden towne, whereby a Jesuits monastery93.
Here I kept my Christmass and made merry {30} with the company I
brought along, for here was no body of fashion, who either deserved or
desired to be conversed with.

  Małogoszcz.
  92

  In Jędrzejów there was no Jesuit monastery, but a famous Cistercian one.

  93

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 38 1659

On Saturnday the 27th I marched, sending my quarterm-rs befor and

on both sydes to gather contribution, designing to quarter all night in
Michalovic. And because this was a great village, and the gentleman no
well-wisher of sojors, I gave orders to make my quarters in the nearest end
of the village, to avoide the marching by the gentlemans house (which I
understood to be in the midst of the village), whereby my strength might
be discerned, for I had many sick and the rest ill accoutred and wanting
armes. But my baggage being befor, and for want of tymely advertisement
from the quarterm-rs, I was come to that end of the village w-ch was not
designed for quartering. So that of necessity I must either march by the
gentlemans gate or take a great compasse about to the other end, which
last I thought would bewray fear, and now would not secure me from their
wiew, seing upon my marching away they would out of curiosity come out
to see.
So I put the sojors in as good order as I {30v} could and marched
through the village. As I marched by the gate of the house, the gentleman
with about 20 servants was standing befor the gate, and observing very
well my strength, said to me after a cold salutation afarr of, that I should
take heed how I sleeped the night. I thanked him for his warning and told
him I was not afrayed of what he could do me.
Being come to my quarters, I ordered a good guard at my owne lodg-
ing, giveing orders that they and all the rest should dispatch themselves to
their quarters, and getting victualls, the guard should immediately repair
to me, and all the rest, haveing provided themselves with what they could
gett, should come towards evening and lodge in the neerest houses to
myne. In the meane tyme, as the servants were takeing care of my horses
who were in another house over the way, there came from the gentlman,
whose name was Peter Krupka Preclawsky, a towariss of our generalls
Cosakish company, as he said, with a desire to remove and not quarter in
the village. I showed him the unreasonableness {31} of the desire; that
haveing marched with a ruined naked people three miles without going
aside, was necessitated to lodge in that village, being on the way; that it
was above a mile to any other village on the high way, and that to march
out of the way would be worse taken; that no harme was done nor should

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be done to his pawres, the sojors being ordered to be content with what
the tennants houses could affoord without killing so much as a hen; that
it was great indiscretion to refuse a nights lodging to sojors and strangers
who had been fighting for their countrey, spending their blood, lossing
their lives and shipwracking their health; that if pay were duely given, they
should not be troubled with quartering; that for the extraordinary service
this company had done, and the being so ruined (for so I was forced every
where to say) it was sent to the winter quarters sooner as others.
Wherewith the gentlman seemed indifferently satisfyed and rode away,
but in a short space returned and as from himself told me that Preclawsky
was no wise satisfyed, but would needs have me remove, and that he was
preparing to use violence. Wherefor being under one lord, and loth that
any harme should befall any who had dependance on our lord, he advised
me and with great entreatyes perswaded me to remove. But I renewing
the former and adding other reasons, refused to do so much dishonour to
{31v} my master or injustice to the poor sick, wearyed and naked people,
to say nothing of the afront to my owne person, and not haveing tran-
scended my orders, done harme or violence to none, as to remove at that
season unless forced to it, which I hoped by Gods grace he should not be
able to.
Wherewith I dismissed him, but it seemes this gentlman came rather
for intelligence as out of any goodwill to me or my master either. For
haveing observed that I had few people by me, yet orders given for the
repair of more to me, immediately upon his returne the gentlman, haveing
gott from the castle of Pienshowa94 about 40 heydukes, which are souldiers
armed with fyrelocks, shables and pollaxes, and environed with about 300
pawres and 20 or 30 servants, advanced; my watches through negligence
not descrying them untill they were within lesse as a musquet shott of
my quarter; neither indeed suspected I that they should have come so
soone, and not untill night. Being advertised, I caused these who were
with me, being but 8 persons, take and make ready such armes as were
readyest, being pistolls and carabins. I tooke my Scots pistolls one in my

  Pińczów.
  94

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 40 1659

hand and the other at my belt, and seeing the hayduks ranging themselves
over against my lodging by the church yard dyke, and the gentleman with
his followers advancing all along a hedge adjoyning to the house I was in,
I thought it my best to secure the head.
And so, rushing forth and turning immediately to the {32} left hand,
at the corner of the hedge hard by the house I did meet the gentleman in
full march. I immediately presented my cock’d pistoll to his brest, yet at
some distance, bidding him stand and telling him that if any of his people
should shoot (for the heydukes had presented their armes and were ready
to give fyre), or any violence be used, he should dy immediately, come of
it what would. Wherewith he being astonished, called to the heydukes and
these about him to hold and not to give fyre.
The pawres, as they had orders, dispersed themselves over the church
yard, and meeting beyond my quarter, stopped the passage of any of the
souldiers to come to me, and held the house also where my servants and
horses were besieged, and the other houses where the sojors were in also.
I had given orders to the few who were with me to observe what I did and
let no body come neer to environ us or to go into the roome where my
quarters were, so that wee all stood with cock’t pistolls and carabins, have-
ing the roome on our left hand and a part of the hedge before us.
Being come to parley, the pan95, haveing a pollax on his shoulder,
would alwayes have been drawing neerer me, but I not trusting put him
in mynd of keeping a distance. Many arguments were used by me for
not and by him for removing, and albeit I offered, it being so late, that I
would cause {32v} the souldiers lodge in two or three houses and not to
take the value of ane hen egge from any pawre, yet nothing would help
but removall; he not trusting but that when he dispersed his people, the
sojours comeing together would be revenged of this attempt. I on the
other part considered in what condition I was in, haveing few people
with me, being separated from my souldiers and horses. And one of
the sojours came running to me, telling me that so many of the pawres
were going from house to house and secureing the sojours apart; I

  Gentleman (Polish).
  95

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fearing the poor peoples case and pittying them more as my self, told
the gentleman that he should send and cause his pawres desist from
doing any violence or harme to the sojours, and that I would march
away. Otherwise I swore that he should dy for it, albeit I nor any with
me should remaine alive.
Whereupon he sent immediately with orders that no body should
touch a sojour or any belonging to me, yet that they should be kept where
they were till his further order. So he challenging me upon my promise
to remove, and I seeing no other remedy, desired that the sojors might
be permitted to gather to my quarters, and to give me a guide, which he
promised. But when I gave orders to the drummer to beat a gathering,
the gentleman cryed out that {33} if any drumme were stirred, he would
cause ring the bells. But neither was the drummer at hand, for he had gone
to his quarters and was secluded with the rest. At last, I haveing given my
paroll (which he said he would trust) that when the souldiers should be
come together, I should use no violence, but immediately remove, and
returne the guide from the nights lodging, the sojours were permitted to
come; who being gathered most of them at a corporalls quarter, came
with him in order with burning matches, which, it being darke, struck no
small terrour amongst the pawres. So that in an instant they all shrunk
away, and I could scarse gett a guide.
So causing make ready, with a cold “good night” on both hands wee
parted. I told P[an] Panek (for so was the towariss called, who had been
with me twice) that he should remember what his part had been in this
business, when wee should meet at our masters house. He said he had been
no bad instrument in it. Nothing so much under God hindred mischieffe
or brought me so fairly of, as that I gott the gentleman within and suffered
him not to go without my danger untill wee agreed, and that the souldiers
were come by the colours. Some of the sojours lost their knapsackes, and
some gott dry stroakes, but all, though threatening revenge, were glad to
have escaped so.
{33v} Wee marched a short mile in the night tyme and quartered with
litle convenience in a small village, and the next day, though Sunday, I
marched and quartered in a large village called Krzizanowice.

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 42 1659, 1660

On Moonday I marched and halted in a suburb befor Vislice96 untill

my baggage came up, and the towne capitulated to go by them. Here P[an]
Preclawsky sent a sick Dane who had stayed behind in his village, and
whom wee thought the pawres had killed. I marched through Vislits and
quartered all night in a village a mile of. This Vislits is a litle walled towne
and lyeth in a marish, which the r[ivule]t Nida maketh. Here hath been in
former tymes innumerable adders and venemous vermine, but by vertue
of the prayers of a holy prelate, and a sanctifyed bell, no venemous beast
now liveth within the sound of this bell, which I saw tryed.
I marched through Oppatowtsa and crossing the river Vistula, quar-
tered all night in Zabna, a litle towne. The next day early I rode befor
to Tarnova, a litle towne, and bought some musquets, powder and lead.
Whilst I was here by my good ffriend Margarat Gordon, a gentleman
chamberlaine to the Count Palatine of {34} Sandomirs97 came to me and
desired that I would not quarter upon his lords lands. I made it nice at first,
yet he offering fyfty florens of money, and at the request and interces-
sion of M. Gordon, I gave orders to march by. Towards evening a great
storme of snow and drift falling and blowing, I could hardly gett houses
recovered to lodge in.

[1660]

The next day I marched to the left hand of Tuchowa, a litle towne, and
quartered all night in a village called Potok, from whence the family of the
Potockyes have their sirname. I marched over the hills and quartered in
a village belonging to the starosty of Libushy, where lived my old ffriend
Milgast, with whom I passed the tyme that evening.
I marched early and quartered in a small towne on a high ground
called [ … ], where being sick I stayed the next day, and the day thereafter
marched. I rode befor to Sandets, whither I came on Wednesday at night
late. The next day early I went to the Podstarost Proskofsky and shew
him the order I had and the assignation upon these lands. He told me
  Wiślica.
  96

  Jan Sobiepan Zamoyski (1627 – 1665), wojewoda of Sandomierz.

  97

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 1660 43

he should have been very willing to have answered me, but that depu-
ties from the Great Generall Potocky his company of usars98 or lanciers
had already taken possession and {34v} were already gathering up their
bread, as they call it; that it was neither usuall nor were they able to give
to two, but if I would make that these would depart, he would much
rather give to me as them.
I being in these streights, knew not what to do. I knew that possession
and the greater generalls command were great and unquestionable rea-
sons against any thing I could say or alleadge. To use force, the event was
doubtfull, and the generalls being at some variance already, if any mischi-
effe should fall out, all the blame would ly upon me and I would be looked
upon as the first aggressour. On the other syde my orders caryed me only
to this place, and even with great danger and through many difficulties
I was with a clear order gott thither unruined by the countrey gentlmen
and pawres. And now, what satisfactory pretence to make for marching
and quartering I knew [not], so that I would have been glad of any corner
where I could have a subsistance, though never so meane or bare, rather
as hazard my self through the countrey againe.
But herein was an impossibility, for although the deputies made a
shew as if they would not exclude me from my quarters, {35} so being
they suffered no loss nor prejudice thereby, yet the podstarost protested
against the practize and possibility thereof. Being at devotion in the
morning, as I was going out of the church, the deputies, being two
towarises, came to me and saluting and welcomeing me very kindly, gave
me an invitation to their quarters, to w-ch after some ceremonyes and
excuses I yeelded and dined with them. Where at large wee argued and
discussed every thing that could be said upon the matter, but no midle
could be found, but that they who had possession and the orders of the
chieffest generall must keep it.
I returned the next day to New Sandets, which being a gorod, or juridi-
call towne, I tooke out ane attestation to this purpose: that haveing by
orders of the Generall Lubomirsky marched up to my winter quarters as

  Hussars, the famous “winged” heavy cavalry of Poland-Lithuania.

  98

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 44 1660

farr as Old Sandets, which finding possessed by the deputies of the usars
lyfe company belonging to the great Crowne generall, by an order from
his Excellence, and not admitted to these quarters or any share thereof,
I am compelled for subsistance of the people under my charge to take
a transeant quarter, untill I receive orders from his Exc., to whom I had
dispatched an express. This was dated 1660 Feria 5ta post Festum Sanctorum
Trium Regum proxima99.
{35v} I quartered this night with the company, which was advanced
within halfe a mile of the towne. The next day I marched downe along the
right bank of the river Dunaiets w-ch, comeing out of the Carpathian hills
and haveing under Old Sandets taken in the Paprot100, w-ch cometh out of
Scepusia101, a county of Hungary, runneth by New Sandets, Saklikshin and
Voynets102, falling in the r. Vistula above Oppatoftsa. In this river there is
greater plenty of salmond as in any of Polland. I quartered two miles of
from Sandets, the gentlemen beginning to grudge and threatening, which
made the two gentlemen who had come with me from the leaguer and had
had no bad dayes on this march, but now despairing of makeing any ben-
efitt, yea, even of comeing of unruined, come and take their leave of me,
pretending they must repair to their colours, which now they understood
were marched to their winter quarters. Albeit I was not content that they
should now leave me in such a strait, yet seeing them so resolved, I parted
with them without any shew of discontent.
The next day, being Sunday, I marched over the river Dunaiets on
the ice, haveing first visited my old ffriend Mieskofsky, who had been
podstarost in Libushy the yeare befor. {36} His bedfellow, he not being
at home, entertained me very kindly and presented me with a fryed
salmond.
Haveing notice of a great village belonging to the King, wherein wee
could quarter with greater priviledge, I marched thither, resolving to stay

  99
  “On the 5th day after the Feast of the Three Holy Kings” (Lat.).
100
  Poprad.
101
  Spisz (Polish), Spiš (Slovak), Zips (German), Szepes (Hungarian), once a region
which belonged to Poland and Hungary, now part of Slovakia.
102
  Zakliczyn and Wojnicz.

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 1660 45

two or three dayes untill I could ride to Krakow and furnish my self
w[i]t[h] armes and ammunition. For now I was resolved, where I could
not gett quarters by fairness, to take it by foule meanes, my souldiers being
all pretty well recovered, and the company recruited to about a 100 men,
besides officers and servants.
The quartermaster rideing befor to make quarters in the said village,
and as I had ordered going to the gentleman first, received such a harsh
welcome, as he made hast back to tell me that I would not be permitted to
quarter there. I chideing him for his faintheartednes, sent him againe befor
better accompanied, commanding him to tell the gentleman that by any
meanes I would, and had no other place to quarter in as there. And being
come neer the village, I gave orders to the sojors to kindle their matches
and make such armes as they had ready. So takeing my passe and the attes-
tation along, I rode on befor, giveing orders to the company not to enter
the village without notice, but to stay for the baggage {36v} at the end of
the village, telling them they should not be discouraged, for I doubted not
to make all well.
I did meet my quarterm-rs at the end of the village worse discouraged
as befor. I said nothing, but sent one befor to tell him that I was come-
ing my self. I had 8 or ten horse with me and some servants in handsome
livery. Being come to the house, I lighted at the staire-foot, and finding no
body to meet me as usuall, I caused one of my owne who had been just
now there usher me up. Being come into a small roome, his L[ordship] did
scarcely rise from the head of the table to welcome me, but at the shake-
ing of hands I by a handsome way drew him a litle of from the table, and
nimbly turning, seated my self at the head of the table, leaving him stand-
ing untill a seat was brought him.
Then began I to expostulate with him in high language, as how he
came to be not only so undiscreet but so inhumane as to deny and refuse
to admitt His Ma[jes]ties souldiers to quarter on His Ma-ties lands in such
a season of a year and such a tyme of the night (for now it was evening)?
Was that the rewards or thanks that wee strangers had for serving His
Ma-tie and the Commonwealth, {37} for spilling our blood, exposeing
our selves to all dangers for the defence of their countrey, and that with-

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out pay, and then to have a peece of bread or a warme lodging denyed
or grudged to us? And much more to this purpose, which cooling him
a litle, he began to alleadge the universall or mandate sent out for not
giveing quarters to any company, but to drive them to the armyes. Which
produceing, I told him that that did not concerne me, my company being
no supplement or recruit, but a standing company ruined by extraordinary
service, and therefor out of the generalls good discretion sent away befor
the army was dissolved, thereby to be made capable for an early march in
the spring; that I had made as much hast as possible up to my assigned
quarters, which being possessed by others whose orders was unquestion-
able, I was forced sore against my will, in stead of rest, to wander about,
takeing a transeant quarter untill I should receive orders from the generall,
to whom I had already dispatched ane expresse; that for the better faith I
had taken ane attestation out of their juridicall towne.
And haveing seen his universall, he was desirous to see myne. I shew
him first the attestation, and only the subscription, {37v} seale and date
of my passe, asking him if he knew the hand and seale, telling him that
my order was of a later date as his. He would faine been at reading of it,
but I pretended want of tyme, seing the souldiers by this tyme would be
come and standing in the streets. So, desireing him to send one along to
help to quarter them, for I would be necessitated to stay three dayes here,
by reason I must go to Krakow for armes and other necessaries for my
sojours, pretending to have an order from the generall to be furnished
there. He then began to desire me to stay but one night, which I refuse-
ing, he would needs have me promise to stay but two and to march to a
bishops village hard by thereafter. I told him I could not promise certainly,
but that I should leave orders, and that if the sojors were well used, they
should perhaps not stay the third. And so I parted to my lodging very well
at ease, and the sojors farr better, who poor soules were put in a fear of
lying without this night. So courage carryeth thorow, when faintnes falls
in the myre!
I rose a litle after midnight and rode towards Krakow by Wisnits,
Bochnia, and came to Krakow in the evening and lodged by Abraham
Wishart, my old acquaintance. I sent the same evening to enquire for

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muskets, and went my self to Mr. Blackhall, where {38} I was very well
entertained and bought from him 60 new musquets at 4 florens a piece.
Being come to my lodging, I found all at supper, and among other strangers
John Holstein, my old ffriend, with his wyfe and her sister. Wee were very
glad to see on another and lay in roome together, leaving the women to
themselves, that wee might have the better convenience to relate a progress
of our lyfe since wee parted, which wee did, not sleeping the whole night
almost. I gave him at parting one of my Scots pistolls for a remembrance.
The next day, haveing bought 6 old musquets and powder and lead,
I went and lodged foure miles of in a village. The next morning I came
to the company just as they were ready to march, haveing stayed but two
nights where I left them, and this last night in the bishops village. I caused
distribute the armes to the sojours, as also a quantity of powder and lead
for every one of them, which so much rejoyced them as I am not able
to express. I lodged this night in a small woodden towne called Voynits,
which is situated on the river Dunayets, where being store of gunsmiths, I
caused mend all the musquets and make all fixed. And now wee marched
with a great deale of mor confidence and courage as before.
I marched by Tarnova and sent in some provisions to Margarat
Gordon. I rode to Dambrova to advise what I should do, but nether the
lady nor any about her would offer to give other advice as to follow the
course I was in. So that haveing letters ready, I immediately dispatched my
quarterm-r Adam Yong and another sojor with him upon on of my owne
horses to Dantzick to the generall for orders.
Haveing dyned, I rode away and found the company in a great village,
but lodged in two or three houses {38v} next to myne, and all the passages
guarded with their matches burning. I enquired the reason of their great
vigilancy, and understanding it to have proceeded from some threats of
the gentlemans servants who had come to the village; so, commending
their circumspection and causing give them a tunne of beer to make merry
with, I ordered them to keep watch in the same stations all night and
furnish themselves with victuals from the nearest houses.
By day light, being Sunday, I ordered the souldiers quarters to be
enlarged and contribution to be brought in from the houses which lay

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furthest of. About ane houre thereafter the gentleman came well accompa-
nied with 10 or 12 servants, whom I received with the strictest punctilioes
of ceremonies, and he with a great confidence notwithstanding forced a
familiarity. I expostulated with him sharply concerning the threats these
who came from him the evening befor had used, which he altogether
denyed to have been by his orders, promiseing satisfaction and desireing
a removall.
I told him that the rude acceptance and cold entertainment which
the souldiers had received obliged me to rest this and the next day, espe-
cially this being the Lords day, and I to expect advice from Dambrovna,
whither I should direct my march. Wherein persisting, he urged me upon
the acco[un]t of religion to go to church and there know of the Divine
oracle what should be fittest to be done, and being civilly importune, I was
forced to yeeld. So that, takeing a good convoy along, I went to church a
short mile from thence. After devotion he invited me to dinner, where I
was kindly entertained with jocund hoasts, plenty of fare and superfluity
of {39} drinks. At parting I promised to remove the next day. This night
a house was burned in the village, but whether by the negligence of the
landlord or sojours uncertaine, notwithstanding the sharp enquiry which
I caused make.
On Moonday I marched up to the south and towards the Podgurs,
and quartered in a gentlemans village, haveing marched three miles.
I marched towards Biets103, and being within a mile thereof, returned
towards Tarnowa, which I did not trouble, haveing been there twice this
march befor. I sent againe to Dambrovna for advice, and projecting if
it were not possible and fitt to allow me some weeks quarters in one of
the generalls starosties, suppose Casimirs or any other neare by, where no
excesse should be done, but only a meer subsistance taken, rather as run
the hazard of being ruined and lost. Hereupon I received letters from
Cobersky and Kulakowsky, the two chieffe persons by the lady, that there
could be no permission given without the generalls orders to quarter
in any of the starosties; that they knew nothing of the generalls dyet of

  Biecz.
103

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 1660 49

returne, but that he would scarsely come but with peace; that there were
some complaints from the places where I had marched; that as they were
of no great importance, so they well knew that such things in such tymes
and cases could not be avoided; that they could give me no advice as to
the way whither I should march, only that I would do well to order the
behaviour of the sojors so that no complaints might reach {39v} the
eares of the generall; and in the end thanking me for the visitt of a letter
and assuring me of their good will, friendship and affection, they desired
that by occasion I should acquaint them of the course and progresse of
my march.
In this case I found that true, that mans extremity is Gods opportu-
nity104. For being destitute of all help and advice, it pleased God to direct
me so, that I resolved to make a longsome crooked march downe the
countrey as if I had orders to meet the generall, or in truth, with the
greater celerity to meet my orders.
What method I kep’t in my marching, I have set downe befor. I kept
strict discipline, and when complaints were verifyed by witnesses or other-
wise, I punished severly and to the satisfaction of the complainers. Wher
the crimes were by the lawes of the countrey and articles of warr capitall, I
presently held standright105, and if the party were sentenced to dy, I presently
caused him prepare for death, and befor all things were gott ready, ordinar-
ily intercession and entreaties came even from the complainers, seeing it
earnest. So causing give such satisfaction as was possible, I gave content-
ment, yet very few complaints of a high nature were [heard].
I marched towards the river Wislok, which I crossed at Melets, and
so on to Baranova, and crossing the r. Vistula above Pokrivnitza106 to
Climentova. Here my boy Tursky being exceeding sick and lying in a man-
ner without senses, an old woman perswaded me to wash his head twice
or thrice a day with warme barczs, or the blades of Holy Ghosts root107,
104
  This saying occurs in The workes of Tho: Adams, being the summe of his sermons, medita-
tions, and other divine and morall discourses (London, 1629), p. 619.
105
  Standgericht (German) – court martial.
106
  Kopszywnica.
107
  Here barszcz (Polish) probably means either angelica, known as the Holy Ghost root,
or parsnip.

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{40} and so to continue for some dayes, which would give him ease. As it
did, for two nights thereafter, about midnight, when he watched, expect-
ing his departure, his haire suddainly feltered up into the plica, a third part
of his towards the backe syde of his head, after which he mended and two
or three dayes thereafter recovered his perfect health, and shortly after his
strength.
I marched to Oppatowa, from whence the quarterm-r whom I had
sent befor gave notice that the towne, being a ruined place, had agreed for
42 florens and spices from the Jewes. Wherefor I ordered the company
to march to the left hand and quarter in a village about halfe a mile from
the towne, I rideing my self to the towne. Whither being come and in my
lodging, the townsmen, haveing notice that the company was quartered
in the village, began to make excuses and at last told it was impossible to
gett any money from the people, the ablest being out of towne, and others
hideing themselves. This being told me, I immediately sent orders to the
company to march towards the towne, whereof the towns people haveing
notice, they hasted and brought the money. Whereupon I sent post that
the company should stay where it was.
But the souldiers being come together, pretending this to be the
quarterm-rs doings, and that now their landlords were fled, would by no
meanes be diswaded by the officers, but would needs be to the towne,
where they had a great mind to quarter. And I had no mind to have
them, because of the great trouble I had when they quartered in townes,
by drinking, whoreing and quarelling, as also because the townes were
alwayes readyest to agree and give a piece of money. And haveing notice
of {40v} their disobedience, I sent post upon post to forbid them, who
returning and informing that they would not obey, and were marching
with burning matches and ready armes to the towne, I rode out and did
meet them just at the towne. And holding a pistoll cok’t in my hand, I
asked W-m Guild who had the comand and was marching befor them,
who was the ringleader and beginner of such disobedience. He being
loth to tell and lingring to tell, I swore that I would pistoll him if he
did not tell me, who most circumspectly answered that they were all in
fault, and had forced him to march befor them. Whereby, haveing missed

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my aime of punishing or pistolling the ringleader (as I really intended)

I, turning, commanded them to follow me, and so without a word of
murmuring or grudging I led them by the towne, and so leaving them,
returned to the towne, where haveing given some things to be made,
I stayed all night, haveing ordered the company to march on the way
towards Shidlovets108.
The next day I overtooke the company, being quartered in a village
near 4 miles from Oppatova, and to the north-w. of the monastery of
Holy Cross. By the way I quartered in a small towne called Curzelow, and
thereafter in a village belonging to the abbacy of Tinets, from whence
two friers came to me with some small gifts and complaints of some
exorbitancies of the sojours, which haveing examined, were of no great
consequence. Yet, because our generall his second sonne was abbot of
this place, I caused make satisfaction, and sent for a gift to the {41} mon-
astery one of the tomes of Baronius109.
From hence I marched towards Shidlovets, and because this towne
belonged to Duke Radzivill, who was a great patron of all strangers, and
that the provost thereof was a Scotsman110, I would not trouble it; but
sending the company to quarter a mile of the towne in a village, I rode and
lodged in the towne, where sending for the provost I keeped him by me
till midnight, he makeing but slight acco[un]t of the courtesy I did to him
and towne, which made me repent my precipitate civility.
Being come near Skrzin111, where a market was to be the next day, and
many merchants conveened and their shops setting, I expected a good
recompence to leave their towne undisturbed. But my quarterm-rs sent
me notice that they would not come to any composition, whereupon I
marched on directly towards the towne, and about halfe a mile from it
makeing a halt, untill my baggage should gett over a troublesome passe,
two Scotsmen [appeared], being yong fellowes in good habite and well
108
  Szydłowiec.
109
  Cesare Baronio (Baronius; 1538 – 1607), Italian cardinal, church historian and divine.
Author of many works, including the 12-volume Annales ecclesiastici.
110
  As suggested by Professor Waldemar Kowalski, this Scot was possibly named
Alexander Russell.
111
  Skrzynno.

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mounted on good horses with bowes and arrowes, according to the fash-
ion of the Polls gentlemen. How soone they drew neer, I perceived by
their long haire that they were strangers, and seeing them in advancing
vaporing with their horses, I caused the guard stop them a good way of.
So they descended from their horses, and being conducted to me, they
began to complement me upon high Polls, telling me they were sent from
the towne and many strangers merchants conveened there, with a desire
that I would not disturbe their towne at such a tyme and hinder their
market. Their peremptory way of speaking and vaine behaviour made me
ans[we]r {41v} them in the same language somewhat hotly, and afterwards
giveing orders to march, I told them merrily that my sojours had perhaps
some spare money to buy of some of their small wares, and so the market
would be the better of me. And so, without granting their desire, I marched
and quartered in the towne. Befor evening three sage-like Scotsmen came
to me with the provost, who brought me some provisions. I entertained
them, and they after much kind discourse prevailed with me to march
away the next day as soone as possible.
By reason of the much good liquor here I had enough to do to gett the
sojours together by nine aclock, when marching, I quartered two miles of
in a village and afterwards, crossing the river Pilcza by Inovlocz, I marched
towards Walwors112.
I had all along been very inquisitive and sent out diverse wayes to know
the way by which the generall should returne. For albeit the express which
I had sent did not returne with any orders, yet I had gott intelligence that
the generall was to returne shortly, and that by the way of Peterkaw113,
which made me direct my course thither.
Being come within three miles of Peterkaw, I rode thither and takeing
up my lodging in the suburbs, I went into the towne. And being invited to
a Scotsmans house, I was very well and kindly entertained, where I gott
notice that o[u]r generall was lodging about three miles of and would be
there in Peterkaw the next morning early. Wherefor I rose a litle after mid-
night, and haveing a guide rode to meet his Excellency.
  Wolbórz.
112

  Piotrków.
113

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 1660 53

{42} It was scarse day light when I did meet the generall in the edge
of a wood rideing on horseback, the way being exceeding dirty. After
I had payed my duty to him with a low reverence on horseback, he
after a litle looking earnestly upon me asked me, if I were not Gordon.
I answering “yea”, he asked me where the company was. I told him,
“About three miles of ”. He asked me if he could have a sight of them.
I told his Exc. that if he would stay in the towne or neer by all night,
I would presently ride and bring them to his view the next morning.
He asked me then if they had armes. I told him, I had provided them
all with musquets and powder bagges. “And swords?”, said he. I said,
“Some of them have swords”. But asking if they had horses, I answered,
“Where should I gett horses in such a tyme, when I had enough ado
to gett shifted for bread?”. Yet I told him that the under officers had
horses too. He then asked what number I had. I said, “A hundred men
with officers”. With all which seeming well pleased, he told me I should
follow him to Dubrowna where he would take a wiew of them, and bidd
me follow him to the place he would dine, where dyneing in a village a
mile beyond Peterkaw, which he passed without going into the towne or
receiving {42v} any visitt or complement from it. I put him in mind of
the necessity of haveing my passe renewed, which he caused do, sign-
ing it with a small signet ring in red waxe. So takeing leave, I rode away
and came to the company late in the night. My passe dated at Lubienu
4 Martii 1660.
I tooke my march now backwards, and not to be troublesome or
burthensome to any places where I had gone befor, I crossed the r.
Pilcza some miles above Inovlocz and marched towards Zarnaw, near by
which the Polls army was put to flight a. 1655.114 I lodged in this towne
and marched on to Radoshits115, wherein I quartered also. Here I turned
to the left hand and quartered in a village belonging to the bishop of
Crakow. I sent my quarterm-rs to Kelets116, where the bishops cham-
berlaine compounded for all these lands and gave me 133 florens, so
114
  See Diary, I, pp. 53 – 4.
115
  Radoszyce.
116
  Kielce.

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that I was forced to make a long march, and so to Chentshin117, where

I compounded for money, and had a note of the burgem[aste]r that they
had given me provisions.
Here my sojours, thirsting for revenge of the afront received in
Michalovic118, made great entreatyes that I would march thither, but I fear-
ing from so great irritation some mischieffe, would not, and so kep’t on
my march to {43} Sopkow and Wislits, where I quartered. Here a gen-
tleman who with others was takeing up bread or winter quarter money,
speaking some unseemly words of me befor I came, which my servant
Wiltczitsky hearing, retorted, and so they went out to a duell, where my
servant, being a gentleman also, wounded the other in the hand and in the
head. The next morning, as I marched throw the suburb, these gentlemen
accosted me complaining. I haveing befor informed myself of the busi-
nesse, told them that their comorade had both afronted me and been the
first challenger of my servant; that if my servant had been wounded or
killed, I know not what amends I could seek, so knew not what reparation
to give them. They said they would complaine in the gorod119. I told them
I was not subject to any such jurisdiction, and was ready to answer them
befor my competent and lawfull judge, and so left them.
I marched through Novi Miasto Korczin, where some of the Polls
surprized and tooke away some of my podwodes or carriage horses, but
if the speed of their horses had not caryed them away, I had made them
smart for it. And because they had threaten[ed] to take the rest away at my
ferrying over, I sent my baggage and impediments befor, and going in the
last prume120 my self with the best people.
This Korczin is a woodden towne, the castle walled. Hereby falleth the
brooke or r[ivule]t Nida in the Vistula,
{43v} Martii. which I crossed here, and
from whence I send W-m Guild to Tarnowa to buy 14 musquets which
I wanted to the compleet arming of my company, giveing him orders to

117
  Chęciny.
118
  See above, fols. 30 – 33.
119
  Cf. above, fol. 35.
120
  Prom (Polish) – ferryboat.

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meet me near Dambrovna befor I should advance thither, which he did

in due tyme.
I came to Dambrovna about 10 aclock and had present access to the
generall, who commanded to march the company thorough the utter
court, which I did. He was well pleased and ordered my quarters in the
same village. After dinner he called me to him and told me that he had gott
a great many more pretty men of the Sweds prisoners, and that I should
choose out 60 of the best of these to take along with me to Scepts121,
and leave the rest there to be given under the regiment of foot, which I
ordered the same evening upon paper. And haveing gotten an order for
my quartering in the Scepts, the next morning I mustered and divided my
sojors. These who were left behind made such a lamentation as grieved
my very heart, so haveing comforted them the best way I could, I marched
and quartered within a mile of Tarnova.
The next day early, ordering the company to march to the right hand
of Tarnova and quarter in a village there, I rode to Tarnowa, where I
found Capt. Fish with his company quartered in the suburbes. I would
faine have had him staying all night to make merry, but he would not, and
understanding that he was to march and quarter in Potock, I diswaded
him, because when I quartered there, that gentleman complained sadly
that Capt. Fish in one month had quartered twice in his
{44} March. village and threatened that if he came againe, if it should
cost him his lyfe, he should ruine him. Which he not regarding marched
thither, and as I heard two dayes thereafter, was ruined indeed, and made
pay and satisfy the gentleman with moneyes at his pleasure for all he had
done before.
I stayed here all night and the next day, comeing to the company,
marched towards Sakliczin, where I crossed the Dunayets, and so
onwards to Old Sandets and to Pivnitse122, a small towne at the foot of
the Carpathian Mountains. From whence I marched in very strait ground
over the mountains to Lubomla123 where I lodged, and the next day, being
121
  Spiš or Zips.
122
  Piwniczna.
123
  Stará Ľubovňa in modern Slovakia (Polish: Stara Lubowla).

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Good Fridday, through Gniasna to Podlain124 where I quartered. These

three townes belong hereditarily to Lubomirsky. By the first is a strong
castle on the top of the hill and therein about 60 men in garrison. On
the hill above the castle is a very faire prospect over almost all the County
of Scepusia and the mountaine[s] called Tatri, whose tops seemed to be
above the clouds.
On Easter Eve I came to Bialla125, and the same night came to me Lt.
Greecks with some officers, whom I entertained the next day and were
all very merry. On the Tuesday thereafter, being invited by the podstarost,
I rode to Lubomla and was in the castle very kindly entertained by Capt.
Cowalsky, commendant of that place, who had all at a feast that day. Being
returned, I rode to Keysermark126, a large Imperiall towne, at the north
syde whereof is a brave {44v} house belonging to the Graffe Tekely, who
at this tyme had some contest with the towne; and to Lubits127, giveing a
visitt to the graffe of the 13 townes called Adam Eysderffer. In my returne
I lighted in Kaisermark, went into one of the p[rinci]p[a]ll innes, where
I was told that this was an Hungarian free citty; that the great hills Tettry
are called also Kass- or Kaisr-mark hills; that in the Germans church was
a rare crucifix; and that in the citty was a Windish128 church. Here are all
sort of victualls at easy rates, by reason of the fertility of the countrey and
industry of the inhabitants.
My orders being to quarter in all the townes except Lubits, which
because of its haveing been burnt of lately, and in my stay in each to
conforme my self to the advice of the graffe of the 13 townes, yet did I not
ty my self to so strict an observance hereof, but that I by indirect meanes
made them use wayes to move me to a removeall. Which, besides some
reichs dollers which they in each towne presented quietly to me at my first
comeing, with a desire to keep good discipline and order, was the only
benefitt I could handsomely make at this tyme.
124
  Hniezdne (Gňazdá) and Podolínec (German: Pudlein).
125
  Spišská Belá.
126
  Kežmarok, Slovakia (German: Käsmark).
127
  Ľubica.
128
  Wends and Wendish are terms applied to Western Slavs, here meaning Slovaks (сf.
below, fol. 45).

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The inhabitants of this towne or village Bially are reckoned for the sim-
plest and plainest people in all this countrey, so that whatever is imputed to
these of Gottam in Germany129 is also said of these of Byally. I went from
this to the other small townes thereabouts, as Yurgenberg, Matsdorffe130
and others, staying in each of them according to the bigness of the place
a competent tyme. From {45} Yurgenberg I rode up and tooke a view of
the hills called Tetry and wondred to see a great lake in so high a place. By
this lake were some cottages, the people liveing therein speake Windish
or Slavonish. They told me strange things of this lake, as that in some
places thereof there was no ground to be found, and to which places with
their boats they durst not at certaine times adventure, and would needs
perswade me that it had communication under the ground with some sea
or other, to prove which the[y] showed me some plankes which they had
about their cottages, resembling those of ships, and which they said were
cast out now and then on the sydes of the lake, which some of these who
came with me confirmed. They presented me with some trouts, which
were so leane as could be.
At the foot of this hill is the font of the r[ivule]t Paprot, and issueth
forth with great force and abundance of water, so that it maketh mills go at
the very fountaine. It is not improbably held that this proceedeth from the
fors[ai]d lake. In this r[ivule]t are trouts and other fishes exceeding fatt and
delicious. It taketh its course first eastward, then comeing to Yurgenberg
holdeth more northerly, and passing by Kaisrmark, Podlain, Kniasna,
Lubovna, cutteth through the Carpathian hills, and watering Pivnitse and
Old Sandets, a litle furthers joineth his waters with the Dunay[ec] comeing
from the south west, and in it losseth his name.
Wee could not get up to the highest topp of these mountaines by rea-
son of the rough passages, w-ch {45v} were choaked up with huge rockes
and great precipices. Great abundance of snow lyeth here also for many
yeares together, and at such tymes as the snow is dissolved, there repaire

129
  Old stories and jokes about “Wise Men of Gotham” have nothing to do with
Germany, but with the English village of Gotham in Nottinghamshire, whose
inhabitants were reputed to be simpletons.
130
  Spišská Sobota and Matejovce, which today form parts of the city of Poprad.

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hither jewellers from other countreyes for seeking of precious stones, as

they say. This I know, that in each house of the countrey below there are
great pieces of cristall, which they find on this hill. I shall only add this,
that albeit it was a very hott day, being on the hill wee wished for our
warme cloathes.
Being come to Niendorffe131, the biggest, best built and richest of all
these townes, called alias Iglo, whereby to the south of it runneth eastward
a small brooke, which holdeth its course by Leutsh132, where meeting with
another, runneth by Kirchendorffe, Wallingsdorffe, and so to Cashaw133,
below which, joining with the r. Tarocs, falleth in Tibiscus134 near Tokay
and Erla. Here I received an answer from his Excell.135 to my letters
dated from Yurgenberg, wherein I had showne the impossibility of buy-
ing horses at these rates I was ordered, which could be serviceable. So I
advised that an order might be sent to the podstarost and graffe for takeing
such horses as wee had occasion for, and gett them taxed at reasonable
rates, and so pay for them. For the people, haveing notice that so many
horses were to be bought, raised their prices so high as there was no buy-
ing of them, and I had not bought but eight horses whereas I had an order
to buy an hundred and 60.
So here I received orders with a letter from the podstarost {46} and
another from the graffe to this purpose: to take such horses as I had occa-
sion for, or thought fitt for service, and calling the p[rinci]p[a]ll men of
the towne, by their advice prize them. This order I gott late in the night
tyme, and keeping it closse, caused sett guards to all the gates to let no
horses passe out, and ordered also the guard at the doore to let no body
in to trouble me.
The next morning I sent for the magistrates of the towne, and show-
ing them my orders, desired them to cause bring all the serviceable horses
together on the market place. Sending sojours along for the greater surety

131
  Spišská Nová Ves (German: Neuendorf; Hungarian: Igló).
132
  Levoča (German: Leutschau).
133
  Spišské Podhradie, Spiśské Vlachy and Košice.
134
  Tisza River.
135
  Prince Jerzy Lubomirski.

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and authority, I gave orders to bring no horses of high prices nor such
either as were old or unable for service. In two houres tyme they brought
above 400 horses together. I picked out about a 150 or 160 and dismissed
the rest, then fell to taxing of them, which I made them do at very rea-
sonable rates, noteing downe the markes, colours, ages and owners of the
horses with their prices. Yet I dispenced with some afterwards, as being
taken from widdowes and poor men, who had not many, and even this
with great entreaty of the magistrates, yet nothing to my disadvantage, for
I gott a discretion from most of them privately.
Dureing my aboade here I rode to Leutsh or Leitsh, one of the 7
free citties in upper Hungary. It is scituated on a high place, yet hath a
hill on the north, which overtoppeth it. The inhabitants speak Dutch and
Windish. It is scarce of water, the small brooke running by it scarcely
sufficeing {46v} to make mills go. The water in the citty is said to occa-
sione chullers or krops to the women (albeit I saw few with such there).
It is famous for markets, the people civill and true hearted, live for the
most part by husbandry and beer brewing. The market place square,
where a great church covered with copper, and therein a stately picture
of St. Georg136. [It] hath no suburbs, but round the citty are fruitfull gar-
dens and pleasant countrey or (as they call them) lust or pleasure houses.
Here in the fields I saw the greatest herds of swyne that I had seen any
where. Haveing seen any thing worth the sight in this towne, I returned
to my quarters.
I rode thereafter to a highland towne called Smollenits or Schmelnitz137,
some miles from my quarters. Here are copper and silver mines, wherein
also some mixture of gold. Here is also a water which issuing out is received
into troughs, and hard by is drawne out of a pitt by a wheele. This water is
so sharp that old iron being put into the water, in a certaine tyme is con-
verted into copper. Here are also made copper vessells for all sorts of uses.

136
  Although St. James’s Church in Levoča contains a chapel of St. George with the
Saint’s remarkable statue and mural paintings, Gordon must have been no less
impressed by its main Gothic altar, the highest in the Christian world. Both works
were created by Master Paul of Levoča about 1510.
137
  Smolník.

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From Neiendorffe I removed to Wallingdorffe, a towne or village very

pleasantly scituated on the banks of the river Hervath138. My dragown-
ers were now all mounted on horseback but some without sadles, which
could not be gott so soone ready, for at my first comeing I had agreed in
Kaisrmark for a hundred sadles with furniture.
Here I found my self indisposed as to my health, which I judged to
proceed from the plenty and variety of victualls and liberall dyet, {47}
and want of competent exercize, the Germans being all given to seden-
tary games and pastimes, wherewith I was forced to comply. So, hearing
of a well not farr of, excelling for rectifying the stomake and reduceing
the appetite, I rode thither, and haveing drunken thereof, found in a short
tyme ane extraordinary operation. For I had scarce in my returne come
halfe way to my quarters, when I found a great lightnes in my body and a
great appetite.
On the Sunday thereafter I rode to Kirchdorffe, called otherwise Varel.
Hereby runneth the r. Hervath also. It lyeth in a valley, and on a high
ground near by it is a monastery. I went to the monastery and heard devo-
tion, and being returned to the inne where my horses were, and calling
for a glasse of wine, the righter139 or provost of the towne came to me,
and with great and earnest entreaties perswaded to go to his howse to
dinner. Wee were very merry, and at parting he presented me with some
old r[eichs] dollers, and his wyfe also with some old pieces of money, in
all to the valew of about 12 r. dollers, and by their importunity extorted a
promise from me to passe their towne without quartering.
Whereof repenting me the next day, that being merry I had for so
small an acknowledgment granted and promised to go by them, and not
knowing how to help it; I sent however my hoffm[eiste]r140 Valner with a
letter to the richter, showing that I, haveing occassion for some pieces of
fyne linnen, and hearing that the best was to be {47v} had in that towne,

138
  Hernád (Hungarian), Hornád (Slovak).
139
  Richter (German) – judge.
140
  Hofmeister (German). Gordon, who always had a sense of dignity, by this time
provided himself with a suite of attendants, even including a steward or
“chamberlain”.

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I desired him to cause assist my servant

May 8. to buy some pieces for me.
Whereupon he sent me two large pieces and tooke no money for them.
His name was Michael Weyser.
As I rode to Kirchdorffe, I had a sight of Zipserhawse on my richt
hand. This is the p[rinci]p[a]ll fortress or castle in this county of Scepusia.
It is scituated on a high rocke. Thereby is a hill in which a deep hole,
wherein is water, which in winter floweth or runneth and in summer is
hard frozen, with the ice whereof they use to coole the wine.
On the hill also by Kirchdorffe is a water which turneth to stone, of
which stone the houses in Kirchdorffe and some other adjacent places are
said to be built of, or with water. Here is also digged out very excellent
lymestone.
Haveing stayed in Wallingsdorffe some dayes, I marched back againe,
and comeing by the walls of Leutsh and causing beat a march as usuall,
I was questioned for doing so by an officer sent from the palatine of
Hungaria called Wesselini. And haveing made a halt by one of the gates
for buying of some things in the towne, I found it necessar to go and
make my owne excuse to the lord palatine. He was lodged in a pleasant
house in a garden, gave me immediately admittance. I excused my self
as being a stranger and not knowing that a person of such character and
quality was there. He gave me a favourable check and after some generall
questions dismissed me. {48} He satt on a bed, being much troubled with
the podagra, had many attendants by him, presented me with a glass of
wine and caused convoy me without the inmost inclosure. This noble-
man, haveing been governour of a fort in Hungary called Filleck141, and
keeping correspondence with a widdow, the Countess Setzky, who lived
in Muran, a strong fortress and garrisoned by Ragotsky142, and makeing
love to her, by her meanes with some few persons he scaled the rock and
fortress, killed the garrison and invested the place with the widdow. This

  Fiľakovo (Hungarian: Fülek).

141

  Gordon briefly relates the story of Hungarian magnate Ferenc Wesselényi

142

(1605 – 1667), his wife Mária Széchy and György I Rákóczi (1593 – 1648), prince
of Transylvania.

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was done A.D. 1644, which gave occasion to the first rise of this, after so
famous a man.
I stayed in a small towne or village a mile from thence and, haveing
agreed for some dragowns sadles to be made in Kaisrmark, I went thither
and finding them ready payed for them and brought them to my quarters,
and the next day distributed them out to the dragownes.
Haveing by this tyme quartered in all the townes according to my
instructions, I resolved to take a transeant nights quarter in each towne,
untill I should receive orders to march into Polland. And on Whitsonday
eve, being neer Yurgenburgh, I received orders to be precisely the next day
in Old Sandets. So I turned my course immediately and quartered all night
in Bialla, and the next day early, notwithstanding it was Whitesonday I
marched, and comeing to Podlaine, was mett by the magistrates, invited into
their towne, entertained {48v} and presented with two pair of handsome
knives. I dined in Kniazna, rode befor to the castle of Lubovna, where was
very kindly entertained by the podstarost Cobersky, who told me that His
Most Sacred Ma[jes]tie the King of Great Brittaine was called home by
his people; w-ch rejoyced me so much, that I gladly accepted of his kind
entertainment and was ravished and overtaken with joy and drink143.
So, takeing my leave of him and of the commendant, Captaine Covalsky,
I went to my company, which I had ordered to attend me below the castle,
but most of them being gott into the towne, I had some difficulty to gett
them brought out. So, marching over the Carpathian Mountaines, I quar-
tered in the small towne Piwnitsa. Some Polls gentlemen being quartered
here, they came to me, and because it was so late, they could not desire my
removeall, only desired that no harme should be done, which promiseing
and ordering, I intended to have marched early. But the next morning I
was so sick of the last nights excess, that I was not able to stirr. Yet about

  King Charles II of Great Britain (1630 – 1685) inherited the throne after the exe-
143

cution of his father King Charles I in 1649 and was crowned in Scotland, but
had to live in exile during Cromwell’s regime. In May 1660 the Stuart monar-
chy was restored. Gordon’s joy on that account is quite understandable, since he
shared the royalist convictions of his clan, and in a way has been an exile himself.
Likewise, the first session of the restored Scottish legislature became known as
the Drunken Parliament.

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ten aclock I marched and came tymely to Old Sandets, where was quar-
tered the lyfe company of dragownes belonging to the field marshall144.

{49} Haveing left Hungary, it is fitt that I speake something of it, and
in particular of the county of Scepusia wherein I had my quarters.
Hungaria hath been a vast and flourishing kingdome, bounded on the
north by the Carpathian Mountaines, on the east by the Euxine Sea145, on
the west by Moravia and Austria, and on the south by Servia, Bosnia and
Bulgaria, and even these countries were some tyme under its jurisdiction.
It is now inhabited by the Hungarians, a people composed of the
Huns and Avares or Ugri, who inhabited about the river Volga, a countrey
there being yet called Ugoria146, which the Moskovitish Tzaar147 useth in
his title. In Transilvania and the upper Hungary the citizens are most of
German extraction, speaking the German language and professing the
Lutheran religion. The nobility and gentry ar partly Roman Catholicks,
partly Lutherans and many Calvinists. These in the mountaines and small
villages are and follow the rites of the Grecian Church, especially towards
{49v} Polland, and many also Catholickes, speaking for the most part the
Sclavonian language.
Of this so flourishing and vast kingdome scarce a third part is sub-
ject to the Roman Emperour148, the rest being all subject to the Grand
Signior149, who is still gapeing after the rest to devour it.
The soyle is exceeding fertile of all sort of graine, so that no where
greater plenty. It produceth excellent wines, the Tokaish being the best;
and the pasturages, fields and hills are stored with infinite herds of all sorts
of large cattell.
It exceeds most countreyes of Europe in rich mines of gold, silver,
tin, lead and copper. As also it hath very many baths and minerall waters
144
  Prince Jerzy Lubomirski.
145
  Ancient name for Black Sea.
146
  Yugorian Land, Russian name for Northern Urals and adjacent coast of the Arctic
Ocean. This region has long been inhabited by Ugric peoples.
147
  Alexey Mikhailovich (1629 – 1676), Tsar of Russia from 1645.
148
  Leopold I Habsburg (1640 – 1705), Holy Roman (German) Emperor from 1658.
149
  Mehmed IV (1642 – 1693), Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687.

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of wonderfull operation, some turning iron into copper, and this sort of
copper is more malleable and easyer to be melted as other, whereof at my
being there I bought some made into vessels. Other waters there are that
freezeth in the summer and runneth or floweth in the winter, and others
there are which, falling upon the ground, is turned into stone. The ore in
the copper mines here is said to be so rich, that {50} it is said in some mines
a 100 pund of ore yeeldeth twenty to 30, 40 and more pund of copper.
The Hungarians are very good warriers, being strong of body, well
proportioned and couragious, and can very well endure labour and hard-
ship, and contented with course fare. They call their horsmen generally
husars, and their footmen heydukes. They have horses of excellent breed,
large, couragious, swift and durable. The Latine is spoke very generally
among them, so that I have heard a swine-heard speaking Latine. By the
progress of effaires and the troubles in this and the former age it appeares
that they are litigious and inconstant.
{50v} Their habite is breeches closse to their thighes and legs (they
serving also for stockens), above which a short closs coat to their knees,
tyed with a large belt of woven silke or woollen, above which a wider coat
with short sleeves, which some wear shorter and some longer as the other,
and which they ordinarily either on horse or to foot weare loose about
them tyed with a button ribband on the right shoulder, to have their right
hand free. They weare a high round cap, w-ch boweth backwards or to one
syde. They have tyed to their midle a shable or simitar, and a large tash150
wherein they have in one division powder and lead, and in the other vict-
ualls, w-ch is commonly dry bread, speck, cheese and garlick.
{51} As to the county of Scepusia, commonly called Zips, it is a fer-
tile place wherein are two Imperiall townes, Leutsh and Keysermark, the
former of great antiquity and one of the 7 free cittyes of upper Hungary;
the other of later growth, to the which the Count Tekely (who hath a
pleasantly scituated palace at one end thereof) maketh some pretensions.
Here are 13 townes, called so because they have their owne jurisdiction
in some cases, who are pawned to the Crowne of Polland for a summe of

  Tasche (German) – bag, sabretache.

150

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money, which the family of the Lubomirskyes haveing disbursed, they are
in {51v} the possession of that family, and is a provision for one of that
family by the name of Starosta Spisky, yet are obliged to ask and procure
the confirmation thereof from the King of Polland. The revenues which
the Lubomirskyes have of these litle townes are 4 or 5,000 ducats yearly
for all duties and services, yet sometymes upon the acco[un]t of undue
payment or some other pretensions they presse a benevolence from them,
which was the cause of my being sent thither. They say the redemption of
these towns by the Roman Emperour is past prescription.151 The principall
of these towns are Niewendorffe, Lubits, Bialla, Kirchdorffe, Yuremberg
and Wallingdorffe.
The people are very plaine and honest, very few of them travelling to
any other countrey; the women very bashfull and hugely afrayed to converse
with strangers, especially sojours. Here is plenty of all sorts of victualls.
In the small rivolets are aboundance of excellent trouts. The countrey
is hilly with fertile valleyes and plaine. It is environed on the north with
the Carpathian Mountaines, on the west with the mountains {52} called
Tetery. On the south and east are hills higher as any within the countrey.
The Lubomirskyes have also on that side of the Carpathian
Mountaines a st[r]ong and well fortifyed castle called Lubomla with a
towne of the same name lying in the valley, and two other townes called
Gnisna and Podlaine, which are their hereditary possessions. In the cas-
tle is a podstarost, who hath inspection on these 3 as well as the other
13 townes. Here is a captaine also with a garrison of 50 or 60 sojours.
The 13 townes chuse a graffe or officer whom they call so, who hath the
ordering and direction of all effaires there, who is umpire in their quar-
rells and discords. Yet is he in some things subordinate to the podstarost,
he being elective and that for a short tyme, his authority is but small.
{52v} In Sepusia are two counts also, one Сount Czaiky and the
fors[ai]d Tekely. Count Czaiki hath the command and keeping of Zipzer-
hause, the p[rinci]p[a]ll and, so farr as I could learne, the only fortress in
this countrey, except Lubomla. These counts have faire lands in this county.
  Thirteen main towns of Spiš passed to Poland in 1412 under the Treaty of Lubowla,
151

and were only repossessed by Austria in 1772.

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 66 1660

The title of Count Teckely: Stephan Techely152, Count of Kersmark (or

Kaisersmark), Hereditary Great Official of Aronna, Baron of Shufenit.
He had a son called Emericus153.

{53} Here in Old Sandets I received an order to joyne my company to the

lyfe company, with a promise that I should be accomodated another way.
The reason whereof was that the generall was out of hopes of obtaining a
new regiment of dragownes, and that the noblemen who had independent
companies should quite them for makeing a standing compleet regiment,
they being loth to part with them because of the honour, but especially for
the profitt w-ch they reaped by them. Here also I received the gratuity for
my winter quarters, being 400 florens.
The lyfe company being now compleet 200 men, wee marched from
Sandets by Tarnova, crossing the r. Vislok at [ … ], passing by Baranova
and over the r. San to Petrovine, and quartered in monastery or church
lands over against Solets, and thereafter crossed the r. Vistula at Casimirs
and to Jonoftsa, where the generall was. Here I was perswaded to embrace
so long the charge of commanding the {53v} lyfe company, untill occa-
sion should offer of accommodateing me further.
From hence wee marched to Varso where the generall tooke up his
lodgings in the zeichhause154, where I also had a chamber. Wee stayed here
about 2 weekes at the convocation of the nobility155, when among other
things it was resolved to cary on the warr against the Moskovites and Cosakes
with all their power both in Litthaw and the Ukraina, expeding a messenger
to the Crimish Chan with a desire to send his Tartars to joine the Polls
army at Constantinova156, whither the 2 Crowne generalls, Potoczky and
Lubomirsky, were to march with the Crowne army. The woywod of Russia,

152
  Count István Thököly (1623? – 1670), participant in the anti-Habsburg Wesselényi
conspiracy, was killed by Imperial troops when defending his castle of Árva
(Slovak: Orava).
153
  Count Imre Thököly (1657 – 1705), future leader of anti-Habsburg uprising and
prince of Transylvania.
154
  Zeughaus (German) – storehouse or arsenal.
155
  This sejm took place in late May and early June.
156
  Starokostiantyniv, Ukraine.

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Czarnetsky, with a detachment from the Crowne army being ordered to

joyne with a part of the Littawish army and command a body apart, and act
in the Polesia and thereabout, and this because he would {54} not willingly
be commanded by any of the generalls, and the King and Republick would
not disoblige him, he being the best sojour they had.
Wee marched from Varso to Jonoftsa, and crossing the r. Vistula by
Casimirs againe, wee tooke a transeant quarter up and downe the countrey.
Then, marching to Konsky Voly (where singular good beer), wee held
on our march to the left of Lublin and quartered in Krasnostaw, and so
onwards towards the r. Bug. And on the last of July wee encamped in the
fields by the r. Bug at a ruined towne called Krilova. Here is also an ancient
ruined castle built of stone, the walls thick and the roomes vaulted.

Aug. 1, Sun[day]. Our Generall Lubomirsky went to Lvova or Rush

Lemberg, where the King and most of the nobility were to be to consult
about the effaires belonging to this expedition. The same day also wee
marched over the r. Bug and quartered all night in Wolodimirs157. This is a
large juridicall towne, but {54v} haveing been lately burned, and now not
a 4th part of it built. It hath a large circumference with a decayed earthen
wall, and a ruined cittadell raised on a mount of earth. It is now inhabited
for the most part by those who profess the Greek rites, and very many
Jewes are in it.
Aug. 2. Wee marched over diverse passes and quartered in a village
called Doltse. The next day wee marched to Tursisk158, a small towne have-
ing a house and fort in the midst of a moras or bog. It and a small district
hereabout belongeth to the Duke Dominick.
Dureing our abode here the regiments, both horse and foot, marched
over the r. Bug and quartered in the townes and villages of the Polesia,
haveing orders to provide themselves with provision for 6 weekes, and
had orders to rendevous at Krilowa the 19 of August.

11. Wee returned to Krilowa and quartered in the towne.

  Volodymyr-Volynskyi, Ukraine (Polish: Włodzimierz Wołyński).
157

  Turiysk (Polish:Turzysk).
158

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15. Ten cannon, 4 whereof shooting 6 pound bullet, and 6 shooting 3,

with 8 waggons with ammunition, were brought.

{55} Aug. 20. The generall, being returned from Russ-Lemberg, marched
over the r. Bug, the infantery being drawne up in one front, and as the
generall passed by each regiment gave a salve with small shott.
The regiments were:

The Field Marshals, commanded by Coll. Giza, well cloathed and armed,
in 10 companies 1,000 men.
The Palatine of Sandomirs his reg., commanded by Lt. Coll. de
Williams159, 10 comp., 900 men.
Maior Gen-ll Celary his reg., 8 comp., 800 men, and a company of
dragownes, 60 men.
Maior Gen-ll Grothaus his reg., 8 comp., 800 men.
Coll. Nemerits his reg., 8 com., 900 men.
Coll. Koritsky his reg., 6 comp., 600 men.
Coll. Czarnotsy160 his reg., 5 comp., 200 men.
The Palatine of Posna161 his reg., 8 comp., 700 men.
Coll. de Buy his reg., 8 comp., 900 men, and a company of dragownes,
100 men.
Duke Michel Radzivill162, 4 companies, commanded by Lt. Coll.
Fittinghausen, 200 men.

{55v} The army, being ordered to march severall tracts for their bet-
ter convenience and entertainment, and to rendevous againe at Luczko163,
immediately dispersed. Wee marched with the generall and quartered in
159
  According to Polish sources, de Vilen. See R. Romański, Cudnów 1660 (Warszawa,
1996), s. 16. This work also lists the full composition of Lubomirski’s division,
but without numerical strength of units.
160
  In Polish sources, Cernezzi (Romański, op. cit., s. 16).
161
  Jan Leszczyński (1603 – 1678), wojewoda of Poznań from 1656.
162
  Prince Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł (1635 – 1680).
163
  Lutsk.

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[H]ribovits, then to Pontska164, a litle towne and hoffe165 fortifyed with a

tetragon in a bog. It belongeth to the lord Vielopolsky. From thence to
Chorowa and to Haratno166, small townes, and then to Lutsko, where the
cavalierie had lyen 8 dayes already. This Luczko is a considerable towne,
inhabited with Russians and Jewes, fortifyed well enough against the
Tartars. The r. Stier runneth by it, wheron now a bridge was built; it run-
neth east and, falling into the [Pripyat’], it beareth it company into the
Boristhenes167.
A messenger from the Tartars came hither and informed that Nuradin
Sultan168 was come into the Ukraina with 40,000 Tartars and was expecting
us in the fields by [ … ].
Wee marched from hence to Ostrusitse169, and the next day encamped
by the r. Ikwa, where wee stayed all Saturday. And on Sunday {56} wee
marched to Dubna, a ruined yet partly againe built towne, where ane old
stone house or castell. Here our generall with all the p[rinci]p[a]ll persons
in the army were magnificently entertained by the lord of the place called
Binewsky, afterwards palatine of Czernichow170. The army encamped in
the fields a mile of.
On Moonday wee marched, and I received orders to march befor with
the lyfe company to Suras and make bridges over the pass there, whither
wee came in the evening and immediately set to worke for provideing of
fassines and timber. The next day towards midday wee had 3 bridges ready.
In this towne were no houses standing, only a ruined earthen wall and two
woodden gates, many orchards where plenty of fruit, as apples, peares
and plumes, a fatt soyle and rich pasturage. Here, by eating of too ripe or
rather halfe rotten peares unadvisedly and
164
  Porytsk.
165
  Hof (German) – here: mansion.
166
  Probably, Horokhiv and Ratniv.
167
  Ancient name for the Dnieper.
168
  Nur-ed-din was the title of the next in line in the Geray dynasty after the Crimean
khan’s heir, Kalga Sultan. At this time it belonged to Safer Geray.
169
  Ostrozhets.
170
  Stanisław Kazimierz Bieniewski (1611 – 1695). The city and province of Czernihów
(Ukrainian: Chernihiv; Russian: Chernigov) passed from Rzeczpospolita to Russia
in 1654 – 1667.

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{56v} Sept-r 1, Wed. too abundantly, I gott a feaver

or ague. Here is a litle r[ivule]t called Villia, which falleth in the r. Horin.
On Wednesday and Thursday the army marched over the pass
Sept. 2. and encamped. On Thursday 5 deserteurs were hanged;
the 6 , who ether had his hands not bound or gott them loose one way
th

or other, when he was throwne of, catched hold of the next to him and
hung so long untill pardon came for him and another from the generall,
who being advertized of the accident, was perswaded and pleased to send
a pardon.
3. Wee marched to Lochovits171, a ruin’d towne, haveing a hoffe envi-
roned w[i]t[h] a stone wall in a marish or iland. Hereby runneth
4. the r. Horin,
which is the border of Podolia. Wee crossed here the next day and
encamped on the other syde.
5. Wee marched into the plaine wast fields of Podolia about 3 miles,
the miles being here twice as long as in
{57} Sept-r 6, Moond. Polland. In this countrey wood
and water begun to be very scarce.
Wee rode with our generall to the campe of the Tartars, who were
leaguered in a scattering way without any order or method. Wee returned
to the army, which had marched a mile and was joyned with the division
belonging to Vihofsky172, who were about 2,000 strong.
7. Wee marched and encamped near to the Tartars.
8. Wee marched 2 miles further, where I had a most violent fitt of the
ague.
9. Wee marched over a passe near a towne called Constantinova. Here
wee joyned with the division of the [great] Crowne generall, who were
about 8,000 strong.
10. Wee rested, and a counsell of warr was held about our further
progress.
11. Wee marched to a place called Ostropolia, from whence an party
of 200 horse with Tartars were sent out for intelligence, who returned
  Lakhovtsy.
171

  Ivan Vyhovsky, hetman of the Cossacks.

172

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{57v} Sept-r 13. on

Moonday with notice that a great army of the Moskovites and Cosakes
were on their march towards Lubartow173, which was 3 or 4 miles of to the
left behind us.
14. Wee marched to the left hand back againe in good battaill order, the
Tartars marching sometymes in the van, other tymes on the flankes, but
their orders were to march by our left wing.
After midday the Tartars discovered the enemy on their march, but
shortly after drawne up at the syde of a wood by a morass. They had sent
their quartermasters to Lubartow, where they intended to have encamped,
but these, haveing gott notice of our army, retiring back to their army,
were intercepted by the Tartars now in action and skirmishing with the
Moskovites. The quartermasters, seeing themselves in this danger, fled
into the thicket of a wood and, cutting downe the trees about them, stood
to their defence.
{58} The Generall Commissarius Jan Sapiha was sent with 2,000
horse and 500 dragouns to recognosce the enemy and act as occasion
offered, who comeing neer the Moskovitish army found them busy
entrenching their leaguer. So, commanding the dragowns to dismount
and attact the quarterm-rs, after halfe an houres resistance they entred
and put all to the sword, the Tartars takeing all the booty from the
dragouns. Wee174 returned to our campe late in the night, being a
mile.
15. Wee marched with the army, and being drawne up in two lynes
w[i]t[h] reserves, wee stayed in a low ground in expectation that the
Moskovites would come out or march to another place, but they stayed
within their campe and fortifyed it. Wee had notice by a deserter that the
Moskovites were about 15,000 men, and the Cosakes as many; that the
Moskovites did not trust the Cosakes, haveing made a partition in the
campe from them.

173
  Here and later on the Volynian town of Lubar is meant, for which Gordon uses its
old Polish name.
174
  This implies that Gordon took part in the action. He usually seized an opportunity
to distinguish himself.

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Hereupon the generalls found meanes by one who pretended to desert

to send letters to {58v} the Cosakes, perswadeing them to leave the
Moskovites, with promise of great freedome and priviledges.
16. Wee marched out with the army againe and stayed in the former
valley, drawne up as the day befor in expectation that the enemy would
come out. About 12 aclock 4 or 5,000 men of the Moskovites marched
out, makeing a stand a large musquet [shot] from their leaguer. Wee see-
ing them not like to advance any further, marched forward with the first
lyne at great leasure, being in hopes that their army would draw out when
they should see our weaknes, but perceiving even these who were come
out begin to retire, wee advanced, giveing orders for the other lyne to fol-
low. Which the enemy seeing, they began to mend their pace, yet could
not get to their leaguer befor wee overtooke them. They made a stand at
a trench, but small resistance, for our infantery {59} being come up and
the dragouns dismounted, wee marched directly forward and beat them
from their brestwork, and following them near to their campe, wee took
three small field pieces and 2 foot collours with some prisoners, the gen-
eralls lyfe company being, as ordered on such occasions, joyned with Coll.
Lanczinsky his regiment on the left wing.
So wee advanced against the Cosakes who were opposite to us, who
without any resistance or dispute retired into their campe. Wee followed,
and being gott within their utmost trench, wee were welcomed with vollies
of shott from the wall of their campe. So that, wanting orders either to
advance or retire and being loth to loss ground, wee lay downe upon our
bellyes among the trunks of trees and small cutt downe branches, where
wee were hotly entertained with their small shott, getting some sojors
killed and wounded. The colonell seeing this, ordered me to advance with
such as were willing to go.
I, though very weake and sickly, gott up and calling to the dragowns
{59v} to follow, with 20 or 30 men I advanced to within 10 or 12 fathome
of their ditch and there clapt downe, where fireing wee were safer, as to
shots, as these who were farther of. Wee had not been long here, when I
saw some hundreds of Cosakes getting over their wall on our left hand,
haveing 5 collours with them. I considering that these were to attact us,

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look’t about to see how wee should be seconded and saw all the regiment
running. I called to these who were with me and told them to retire, but
they seeing the others running made hast after them. So that I, being sick
and weake, heavy cloathed and booted, could not follow, and not being
able to go further, I turned my self to resist, imageining the enemy just at
my heels, but seeing them a pretty way of, I recovered strength and spirit
and at last came to the regiment, which had made a stand at the fors[ai]d
trench or ditch; where after a litle stay, sending away our dead and wounded
men, wee retired in the evening to the campe.
In this action wee had about 60 men {60} killed and above a 100
wounded. A Polls gentleman, being drunk, was taken and was by the
Moskovites pined to death.
The next 2 dayes, being Fridday and Saturnday, nothing was attempted.
19. On Sunday wee encamped neerer and w[i]t[h]in a quarter of a Polls
mile of the enemyes leaguer. Wee had very often and for the most part
false alarums.
21. After midday a strong party of horse and dragowns marched
downe towards the right hand, and stayed till evening without any memo-
rable accident.
23. The generall of the artillery175 brought some cannon and 5 morter
pieces with 60 great waggons with ammunition.
This day a lieutennant of dragowns, being a Jew, came over to us,
and gave us particular information of the number and state of the
Moskovits army, and that they intended to march away towards a litle
towne called Czudnow176, where they had a {60v} garrison; that they
were much straitned for want of forrage, and that they had provision of
victualls and ammunition enough. Hereupon wee raised two forts neer
their leaguer, placeing therein cannon and fire or morter pieces. And the
halfe of the army stood in armes each night neer their leaguer, and in the
day the ordinary guards.

175
  Polish artillery in this campaign was commanded by General Fromhold Wolff von
Lüdinghausen (Romański, op. cit., s. 70).
176
  Chudniv (Ukrainian), Cudnów (Polish), Chudnov (Russian). This town gave its
name to the decisive battle of the campaign.

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26. The Moskovites, haveing levelled the wall of their leaguer, when it was
day marched out in good order. The halfe of our army, who had been in
armes the whole night, were returning to the leauger [sic], when upon the
signe given out of 2 pieces of cannon all marched out againe, and drawing
up followed the enemy.
I haveing been on the extraordinary guards or parade the night befor,
was gott sooner ready and marched further as others, and then gott
orders to second a company of husars who were commanded to charge
a regiment
{61} Sept-r 26 st.n. of horse, which seemed to be their arrereguard.
It was drawne up in two great squadrons, a regiment of foot being also
drawne up behind the squadrons a litle to the right of them. So, our army
in full battaill aray being not farr of, wee advanced forward, I marcheing
to the left a litle behind the husars, who being come pretty neer, let their
lances fall to the charging posture. Which the Moskovites seeing, haveing
fired some few karabins, fled and put the regiment of foot behind them
in confusion. The husars followed closs to their leaguer, troading downe
and killing many of the foot souldiers, and takeing 3 collours. Being come
neer the arrier guards and fired upon, they in wheeling of beat through
a body of the Cosakes foot, and so confounded [them] that about 7 or 8
hundred being separated from the rest, gott into a wood and fyred upon
us going by. Which, being in a manner inclosed, made me make a stand,
but more dragownes comeing up, wee got {61v} orders to dismount and
attact these Cosakes, whom after halfe ane houres dispute wee overcame
and gave no quarters.
The Moskovites, haveing a litle wood or thicket in their way, and
being loth to divide or breake their order, made a stand, and here was
very hott service for neer an howre, for the whole army of the Polls
had tyme to come up and enter in action. The old Crowne Generall
Stanislaw Potocky, who had been sick about three weekes, came hither
on horseback.
The army drew up as a halfe moone and had orders to fall on the reere
and flanks, which some did, but all to no purpose but to loss men. At this

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tyme was on our syde Lt. Coll. Gashinsky killed, Lord Hary Gordon177 had
his horse killed under him. Many others were killed and wounded on both
sides, the Moskovites standing closs by their waggonburg178 and retireing in
to it when the Polls charged and attacked {62} them. The Tartars were
not in action all this tyme, and it was said that the Moskovites had bribed
them. How soone the Moskovites by cutting downe thicket had cleared
their way, they marched away in a square waggonburg, the regiments in good
order marching round it. Neither did their horsmen appear any more,
haveing dismounted and marching on foot. The generalls sent diverse
tymes to the Tartars that they should come and engage, but none came.
The Moskovites marched away at such a pace that our foot could
not keep up, nor our artillery either. So that, being come out a good way
into the fields, wee made a stand, as well that our foot and artillery might
come up, as to permitt the Moskovites (who assuredly believed that wee
had left of the persuit of them) to gett a part of their army brought over
a marishy passage befor them, that wee might with the greater advantage
attact their reare.
How soone wee had notice that the van of the Moskovites were over
the passe, and our foot and artillerie being come, {62v} wee advanced with
the whole army after them, the cavalierie on the wings and the infaneterie
with the artillerie in the middle, the division of the Crowne generall being
on the right, as alwayes, and that of the field and Crowne marshall on the
left. Being come neare the passe, the cavalierie went to the right and left to
seeke their passage over, whilst the infanterie advanced directly forwards
towards the enemy.
The Moskovites perceiving our designe thronged forward to the
passe, which entangled many of their waggons, being very boggy. Our
infantery drawing neer, they began to fire very hott upon another. The
Moskovites cannon were most on the other syde of the passe upon the
high ground and played incessantly upon our battalions, which made

177
  Lord Henry Gordon, youngest son of George, 2nd Marquis of Huntly. In 1658 he
was officially acknowledged as a Polish nobleman, and served the Poles as colonel
until 1663.
178
  Wagenburg (German) – a temporary, moveable fortification made of army waggons.

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ours make the more hast downe into the low ground, where there was
hott worke for halfe ane houre, our cannon playing over our battalions
to the opposite syde. The Moskovites getting over the passe, marched to
the hight, ours following them closs. {63} Once they faced about and
beat our foot downe the hill againe, but being seconded by a regiment
of dragownes, the enemy retired, and ours recovered their standing. By
this tyme the cavaliery were gott over and marched neerer to the foot,
who were busy at the plundering of the waggons which the Moskovites
left at the passe. The Moskowites with their army stayed in the fields a
large musket shott from the passe, and wee all at the passe, in the low
ground.
The Moskovits here lost 7 cannon and about 500 waggons, and if
our cavaliery could have gott over the passe in tyme, this day might
have put an end to the business. Here were killed some hundreds of the
Moskovites, and many wounded without doubt. Wee had about 50 men
killed and many wounded. Among the killed were Maior Wierschowsky
and a Polls lt. of a Cosaks company called Markofsky. Collonell Nemericz
and his Lt. Colonell Stackursky {63v} were wounded, with many other
officers and sojors.
27, Moon[day]. A litle befor day the Moskovites army in great silence
removed, and as it appeared by their tract the next day, went not the neerest
way to Czudnow. In this towne, whose strength was only a pallisado, there
had been all this tyme about a 1,000 horse and who, haveing been upon
party at our meeting with their army, were forced to shelter themselves
here.
Wee had a sad night of raine, wee haveing no tents nor any shelter, and
being three miles from our leaguer, wee had no other victualls but what
was purchased from the Moskovites, which was most dryed bread cutted
small lyk dice which tasted excellently at such a tyme.
At sunriseing wee marched befor with the cavalierie, the foot and
artillerie following at leasure. When wee came neer the towne, wee see
the grosse of the Moskovites army passed over the r[ivule]t Teterew and
encamping on the {64} other syde. The regiments who had the rereguard
were marching in good order at leasure by the towne on the left hand.

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There was a regiment which had green collours within the towne, and it
appeared to us by the frequent moveings and removeings of their col-
lours, which wee only see, that they did not intend to maintaine the towne
(which indeed was not tenable but with ane army), but rather were left
there to take what they could gett, or to drive all out into the leaguer. A
castle was also to the south west of the towne, which they had either aban-
doned or not invested.
Wee admired what their intentions were, to leave this towne and cas-
tle and to encampe in the fields, for their was aboundance of cornes in
the towne in holes under the ground, and the castle could have been
very advantagious to them, it being scituated on a high and on three
sides precipicious ground, {64v} and tenable enough, the towne being
invested. The reason of their encamping beyond the passe I suppose
to have been the fear to have been entanged in their marching of, as
the day befor they had been, which would have proved well if they had
marched of that day or a day or two thereafter. But in my opinion they
had done better if, takeing the towne and castle within their leaguer, they
had encamped on both sydes of the river, at least so long untill they had
consumed the provisions in the towne, whereby our army was main-
tained about three weekes thereafter. But quos Jupiter vult perdere hos prius
dementat179, for neither this nor diverse other things both befor and after
were minded or practized by them, which hastened their destruction.

{65} Some stragling Polls rideing downe towards the passe or r-t Teterew,
which the Moskovitish foot was passing in good order, and comeing per-
haps not so neer as to be within danger, at their returne reported that
the Moskovites had no powder. Whereupon the Lord Jan Sapiha, generall
commissarius, commanded me with a 100 dragowns to march through the
orchards (gardens) to the passe and attact them. I seeing the danger of
this, desired that in case the Moskovites should fall on me with any great

  “Whom Jupiter would destroy, he first makes mad” (Lat.). This adage apparently
179

goes back to an anonymous Greek commentator of Sophocles’s Antigone; it is

found in Latin translation in J. Duport, Homeri … Gnomologia (Cantabrigia, 1660),
p. 282.

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forces, orders might be given for my releefe. For I scarce beleeved that
the enemy should want ammunition, and being to march by diverse regi-
ments, betwixt whom and me there was no other hinderance but a valley
not deep, neither the ascent nor discent steep, it might be easy for them to
gett between me and the army.
Being promised that care should be taken, I marched to the orchards,
and marching thorow them not only in view but within 2 or 300 paces of
the enemy, who were marching on my right hand {65v} in good order by
the towne. Haveing passed by two battalions and come to the front of the
third, I began to consider that if I went much further I might be environed
by their forces, or put to a hastyer retreat as I wished. Which to preveene,
I left a lieutennant with 40 dragowns in a orchard, with direction not to
fire without order, and advanced my self through 2 orchard more, and was
come alike with the front of the 4th battalion.
I would have willingly obeyed orders and marched downe to the pass,
but it being a great way of, and the ground more plaine, I should have
exposed my self to an [in]evitable danger, knowing also that the Polls
would scarcely adventure to second me with hazard. So I resolved to try
if it were true what the Polls had said that the enemy wanted ammuni-
tion, and haveing made a stand, I gave orders to fyre ranke-wise, keeping
ground. I had scarce fyred thrice, when the whole opposite battallion,
faceing to {66} the left, began to fyre at me. I continued fireing, when
perceiving that the lieutennant was fyreing also, I sent to him to desist
and reserve his shott. But he, being a giddy headed unexperienced fel-
low, continued still fyreing, and lying more open to the enemy, received
great loss.
The Crowne Standart-bearer Jan Siobesky180, hearing such service,
came rideing neer to us, and seeing the danger wee were exposed to
with[out] necessity or hopes of doing any good, sent orders to me to
march of. Which being seconded by orders from the generall commissarius,
I marched back to the place where the lieftennant stood, and tooke him

  Jan Sobieski (1629 – 1696), famous commander, from 1674 King of Poland and
180

Grand Duke of Lithuania as Jan III. It was he who, after personal acquaintance
with Gordon, recommended him for service to Prince Jerzy Lubomirski.

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along with me. Of these with me were two killed and twelwe wounded, but
of these with the lieftennant were 6 killed and 17 wounded. Wee marched
round the towne, and the servants of the Polls broke into the towne, now
deserted and set on fyre by the Moskovites.
{66v} Sept-r 27. The infanterie being come with the lightest pieces of
the artillerie, I gott orders to invest the castle with a hundred of the lyfe
company and two other companies with three field pieces; which I did,
and erected batteries in 3 severall places toward the towne and enemyes
leaguer, and planted the cannon thereon.
The army encamped from the castle south and south west, within can-
non shott of the enemyes leaguer, who were busy casting up great walls
round their leaguer. The same evening a party was detached to our old
leaguer to convoy the great artillerie to the army. And the halfe of the
horsmen and dragownes stood all night in armes on the fields through
which the Moskovites were to march, albeit there was litle appearance
that they intended to march away so soone, haveing taken such paines to
entrench themselves so strongly.
{67} Sept-r 28. When it was faire day, the Moskovites and Cosakes
went out of their leaguer in great numbers to the yet burning towne and
to the wood, and began to provide burnwood. Upon those in the towne I
caused the cannon fyre from the castle to good purpose. About ten aclock
the Nuradin Sultan informed that the enemyes were gott into the woods
in great numbers and provideing themselves of forrage and wood, and
desired some foot and cannon, but it was not found convenient to hazard
people so farr from the leaguer. But the Sultan urged to have the foot and
cannon at least to drive them out of the orchards, where they were cutting
downe the fruit trees for wood, promiseing to guard the foot and can-
non with his Tartars and to be answereable for any losse, being willing to
signalize his service and repaire the omission in not engageing when the
enemy marched of from Lubartow.
The Crowne and Field Marshall Lubomirsky consented to his desires
and sent Colonell Stephan Nemiritz with his regiment of foot and fowre
field pieces, with strict command not to loss the cannon, which the Sultan
promised to secure, as also not to engage into

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{67v} Sept-r 28, Tues[day]. too great hazard.

Nemerits was no sooner advanced towards the orchards, when the
Moskovites retired, but they perceiving from their leaguer the small num-
ber of the Polls, advanced out with some thowsands, which the Sultan
seeing, ordered the colonell to march of. But he denying without orders
from the generalls, the Sultan being afrayed to loss the cannon which he
had promised to secure, caused the Tartars to take them by force and draw
them of. The want whereof put the Polls in greater danger, being envi-
roned by great numbers of the enemyes. Yet, keeping closs in good order
in an advantagious piece of ground, they stood to it couragiously untill
succours comeing from the leaguer, the enemy retired.
Wee haveing fortifyed our leaguer with trenches, by our parties and the
Tartars strove to keep them from forrageing and blocked them up, so that
with great {68} difficulty and hazard they could gett grasse or wood; and
wee had a designe also to have stopt the small river Teterka, which ran by
their leaguer, and affoorded them water. In the day tyme there was often
skirmishing befor the leaguer with litle damage, and the cannon playing
now and then at other to greater terrour as loss.

Oct. 1, Frid[ay]. Jan Zamoysky, palatin of Sandomirs and generall of the

strangers, came to the army bringing along with him some field pieces and
ammunition, 600 horse, 200 dragowns and 200 Hungarian foot or hay-
dukes, and a splendid retinue, which with these who went out to meet him
made a gallant show, and marching within sight of the enemyes leaguer,
bred as much terrour in them as comfort in us.
{68v} Oct. 3, Sund[ay]. By a party of ours sent out for intelli-
gence wee were informed that Yuras Chmielnitsky, who was upon his
march with a great army of Cosakes to the assistance or releefe of
the Moskovites, was returned. Which the next day being confirmed by
another party, gave us great hopes of an easy victory, yet did not dimin-
ish our care and vigilancy, the one halfe of the army being in armes
the whole night befor their leaguer, and the leaguer well secured by the
ordinary guards.

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6. Befor day a party of ours returned, bringing a sotnike181 or captaine

with some Cosakes prisoners, and certaine intelligence that the Cosakes
Hetman Yuras Chmielnitsky was on his march towards us, and haveing
an army of 40,000 men at least was encamped at Slobodiscza. This being
divulged, bred no small terrour in our army, so that there was a great
hubub in the leaguer, each
{69} Oct. 6, Wed. st.n. packing up their things of great-
est value in clockbags for fear of the worst. At a counsell, where few
were admitted, it was (chiefly by the advice of Lubomirsky) resolved to
remove the same day a litle further from the enemy to a place of greater
advantage.
Wee removed after midday, and the same evening entrenched our
leaguer, and the field generals division of horse had orders to be ready to
march the next day. 1,200 foot were commanded out of diverse regiments
and 500 dragouns. The Crowne Generall Potoczky was much against the
divideing of the army, yet by the urgent perswasion of the Field Generall
Lubomirsky and solid reasons was prevailed with. Jan Wihowsky the pala-
tin of Kyow with his division, being about 2,000 men, was ordered also,
and the Nuradin Sultan with the one halfe of his Tartars had orders in the
morning to go and watch the motions {69v} of the Cosakes, wee being
in all besides the Tartars about 9,000 men. The Crowne generall with the
grosse of the army being to stand in armes to hinder the Moskovites from
marching to a conjunction.
7, Thur. About daylight, haveing 10 field pieces with us, but no wag-
gons but 5 with ammunition, wee marched a mile and a halfe and passed
a marishy brooke at a ruined towne called Piatka, and a mile further wee
came within sight of the enemyes leaguer. The Tartars had been here the
day befor and were skirmishing with them without intermission. Being
come within less as a quarter of a Dutch mile, our army was drawne up in
a large front, to make the greater show.
The Cosakes, being encamped on the other side of the marishy brooke
and ruined towne of Slabodistcza in a very advantagious, high and strait
  Sotnik (Russian and Ukrainian) – officer of Cossacks or streltsy, in command of 100
181

men.

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ground, being guarded {70} with a marish on their left hand, a wood
behind them and a valley on their right hand. How soone they discovered
our army, which made a gallant and great show, they presently began with
great hast to entrench their leaguer, haveing secured the pass by which wee
were to march with 12[00] or 1,500 men.
About noone the field marshall commanded me with a hundred drag-
ouns (the foot and cannon not being come as yet) to attact the bridge over
the passe (which the Cosakes had broke of) and repair it. I marched as neer
to the pass as I could, and then causing dismount and leaving the horses
with the usuall guard, I ordered some to advance on the bridge, it being 3
or 400 paces long, and other to fire on both sides advancing in the marish,
which at the syde from which wee came was tollerably passable. It seemed
not without hazard and great danger for so few to attact so many, yet, as
God would, wee had scarce advanced a 100 paces fireing, as they at us,
when suddainly the Cosakes takeing themselves to their heeles deserted the
bridge. {70v} Whereat I wondred, but seeing the Tartars (who had found a
passage over the marish higher up) comeing on the other syde, then knew
the reason of such a suddaine and, as I thought, unnecessary flight.
I leaving 20 men to repaire the bridge, made a shift to gett over to
the other syde as soone as the Tartars, who falling in among the Cosakes
killed many and drove the rest into a woodden church, very few escapeing
to the campe. The Tartars would not permitt me to attacque the church,
but gott from their horses and takeing boords and hurdles, advanced on
foot towards the church, and the Cosakes by this tyme haveing cut out
holes, through which and the windowes they shott at the Tartars, killing
some and wounding many. Wherewith the Tartars being enraged, ran back
and fetched great bundles of straw, went under the shelter thereof to the
church wall and putting fire to the straw, fired the church on all sides, which
was terrible to see, some flinging {71} themselves out at the windowes, the
rest were stifled and consumed with fyre, the Tartars so well as the fire give-
ing no quarters. At the bridge I had but one man killed and 6 wounded. At
the end of the bridge about 40 Cosakes lay dead, and all stript.
I marched towards the right hand over the ruines of the towne to a halfe
burnt pallisado by the marish, within musquet shott of the enemyes leaguer,

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and then along by it to the higher ground, whereon ane old earthen wall
and a great breach where a gate had been. Here I stayed untill the rest of
the army came, which with great hast and alacrity marched over the passe.
The generall182, haveing ordered the dragouns and foot to march in the
midle with their reserves, and the cavaliery on the wings, in order to attact
the enemyes campe, I was ordered to have the avantguard with 200 dra-
gouns, Maior Shults with the rest of the dragowns being to follow, after
whom Maior Ochab with {71v} the commanded foot of the generalls
regiment, and so other staffe and superiour officers in their severall posts
and order. Maior Generall Celary, the Colonells Bohum183 and Nemerits
had by the generalls order the direction and ordering of all, the generall
himself on horseback on the old wall and in armor, beholding and sending
orders by the adjutants and other yong men about him.
I knowing that they had many cannon and that they had planted them
to shoot directly towards the old gate, through which wee were to march, I
gave orders to double the files and to march out of the gate (through which
15 or 20 in brest could easily march) as nimbly as possible, and being clear
of the ditch without to face to the right, as well to give place to the other
battalions to draw in front as wee were ordered, as to be free of the cannon
shott, which I knew would be thundring directly towards the gate.
{72} I had no sooner advanced to the gate with my battalion, but
about 20 piece of cannon welcomed me in the very gate, which did
some harme. The officer whom I sent befor with 4 files haveing forgott,
when he was cleare of the ditch, to face to the right as I had ordered,
whereof being againe admonished, and seeing the battalion gone to the
right, marched downe in too great hast and no good order towards the
orchards, which were on our right hand on a descent towards the marish.
Which the battalion seeing (notwithstanding I had fronted them towards
the enemy), began to decline too much towards the orchards, thereby to
be out of danger of the enemyes fyreing, for being now within mushet
shott, the Cosakes powred their arrowes and shott amongst us; which I
perceiving, did all I could to hinder them, but the left wing so pressed
  Lubomirski.
182

  Johann Heinrich von Alten-Bockum, colonel of Polish dragoons.

183

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upon the right that there was no possibility of keeping them up or in

order, which vexed me exceedingly. But as God would have it, there was
befor us a {72v} small ditch or old enclosure for a garden, w-ch albeit
no great shelter, I was glad of, and made the battallion stop there, as
Maior Shults did also, who being troubled with the same inconvenience
and for the same cause, by declineing to the right had joyned me to
closs order.
The Cosakes in the meane tyme continued powring their arrowes
among us, whereby many were wounded and some killed, and because
wee had not fyred, they were standing on the tops of their wall very thick
and fyreing. I then gave orders to the dragownes to fyre orderly, ayming
well at so fair markes, which they did, and to good purpose, so that the
Cosakes fynding their standing too hott on the walls, gott them downe, so
that wee could scarsely see their heads, and few of them either. Whereof
takeing advantage, I advanced in one breath to within 30 or 40 paces of
their entrenchment, and stopping at the trees which they had cut downe,
and with their boughes had drawne and placed round their leaguer, {73}
I from thence caused fyre rankewyse, keeping ground so that few of the
Cosakes appearing behind their wall, only many arrowes they shott in the
hight, which falling galled many extreamly, but with their shott they did us
now litle harme.
Orders being given to march and attact the entrenchment, I saw a
litle to the left of the station where I stood a place of about 30 paces,
not entrenched but barricadoed with waggons, which as easyest and
most safe I resolved to attact that barricado. So, advancing after a for-
lorne hope of 4 files of men184, wee came to the barricado, and beat-
ing the Cosakes from it and clearing the place, entred the leaguer, the
rest of the battalions following. The Cosakes in the meane tyme began
to runne and desert the wall round, which our souldiers seeing, could
not be kept from falling to robbing the waggons and tents. Wee did all
what wee could to keep them in order, by marching further into the
leaguer, but all would not help, so that Maior Shults and I with some

  Gordon’s advanced detachment, having gone too far, did not take part in this attack.
184

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{73v} other officers had enough to do to keep one hundred of all the
dragowns together.
In the meane tyme the other battallions were all entred the leaguer,
and most busy at the plunder, yet some turned the Cosakes cannon and
fired lustily amongst the flying Cosakes. The regiments of horse, strangers
and Polls, charged up to their tabor185 on both sydes, and some entred the
leaguer also.
The Cosakes, seeing the resolution of the Polls and strangers at their
first assaulting, betooke themselves to their heeles and fled out of their
leaguer. Neither could they be brought to a stand by the entreatyes or
threats of their colonells and officers, but takeing their way over the fields
towards the woods, they were encountred by the Tartars, and by force
driven into their leaguer againe. So that the not practizing that maxime
of hostibus fugientibus pontem auream astruendam186 turned to the great {74}
damage of the Polls. For the Cosakes seeing no way to escape turned
desperate, and so being returned into the leaguer in great numbers, they
ran towards the walls of their entrenchment. And befor wee, who were
advanced a great way into the middle of their tabor, perceived any thing,
they were gott behind us, and these battallions who were last being, by
reason of their being dispersed about the plunder, but ill provided for
resistance, upon the approach of the Cosakes rather fled as retired out of
the leaguer. Which the other seeing, fled also in great disorder out of the
leaguer, and most not by the way they came.
I being very weake187 and in the retreat willing to be one of the last,
was with long poles (for wee were at handystroakes with them) twice
beat to the ground. Yet, by the help of God and of some of my drag-
ownes, especially of Kraus and Steffansky, two file-leaders, I gott of and
out {74v} of the leaguer, and recovered my former station, where wee
rallyed againe.

185
  Camp or train (Polish, Ukrainian and Russian).
186
  “For fleeing foes a golden bridge should be built” (Lat.). This maxim, used with
some variations by many commanders over the ages, is ascribed to Publius
Cornelius Scipio Africanus (235 – 183 BC).
187
  Gordon did not yet recover from fever.

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The regiments of horse, who were advanced farr on both sides of the
leaguer, keeping their ground, were much incommodated, especially the
generalls lyfeguard of lanciers commanded by Sokolnitsky and his regi-
ment of horse commanded by the Baron de Oedt, who being gott into
very strait ground betwixt their leaguer and the marish, and keeping their
stations at great disadvantage on the ascent of the hill even when the foot
were beat out of the leaguer, were at last oppressed by all the force of the
Cosakes and driven into the marish, where many were forced to quit their
horses and escape on foot. Many were wounded and killed, among whom
were the Colonell Baron de Oedt, Ruitm-r Mautner, Felkerzan, Debron,
both ruitm-rs deadly wounded, as many more of that regiment. The Lt.
Sokolnitsky hardly escaped {75} on foot, the Cornet Chinek of the same
company of usars or lanciers, haveing lost the colours, was taken. Lt. Coll.
Lansky was wounded with an arrow also.
On the left hand was very hott service, though the ground was more
favorable as on the other syde, being plainer. Here the Lord of Zamoysky
palatine of Sandomirs, and Jan Sobiesky the Crowne standard bearer com-
manded, and even when orders came to them to retire, could scarcely
be brought to retire, albeit by their staying there and lying open to the
enemyes shott, they could do small harme to the enemy or good to them-
selves. On this wing many were killed and wounded also: amongs[t] the
killed of note only was Stephan Liniewsky, a ruitm-r; wounded were Lt.
Colonell P[atrick] Gordon, commonly called Steelhand188, and Ruitm-r
Gralewsky, a ruitm-r [sic].
{75v} Oct-r 7. Wee being rallyed at the cutted trees, which wer layd
round their leaguer within 30 or 40 paces of their trench, and haveing
breathed a litle, gott order to assault their leaguer againe. Which wee did,
but not with such good success as at first, for wee were scarcely gott within
their leaguer, when by their multitudes wee were forced to retire to our
former station, haveing only gott 3 collours from them. Wee made also a
third assault, but to no purpose, the Cosakes standing now strongly to it and
powring arrowes and stones among us, but of other shott no great store.

  The author’s kinsman and namesake, a veteran of the Polish army.

188

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It being now evening, wee gott orders to march of, the horsmen keep-
ing the arrear guard, the foot and dragownes being with 2 or 3 houres hott
service sore wearyed. {76} Wee marched over the passe and lodged in the
fields without fyre, meat or drink the whole night, about a short Polnish
mile from the leaguer. Wee lost this day neer 300 men which were killed
and more as twice as many wounded.
8. By day light wee had some provisions sent us from our leaguer,
wherewith haveing refreshed our selves, wee marched againe towards
Slobodistcza, haveing sent away our wounded men to the leaguer.
In the meane tyme the Cosakes with their Hetman Yuras Chmielnitsky
were in a great perplexity and wondred at the resolution of the Polls, who
adventured with so few men to assault a fortifyed leaguer wherein a numer-
ous army. Some thought the Polls to have an extraordinary and numerous
army, that they could besiege the Russe Generall Szeremeth189 with such
{76v} a well regulated army as he had, and be in a capacity to assault them
also. Others thought it was the hand of God which fought for them, and
these began to perswade to an agreement with the Polls, among whom
was Nosacz, their obosny190 or master of the artillery. But these were cryed
downe by the farr greater number, who advised and urged an agreement
with the Tartars rather, which prevailing, they dispatched a messenger
with letters to the [Nuradin] Sultan with promises of a great summe of
money from the Czaar, as also from themselves, if they would agree and
joyne with them, or at least leave the Polls and go home. But the Sultan,
who was well watched by the vigilant generall191, not dareing to enter into
any treaty with the Cosakes, revealed and shew the letter to the generall, by
whose advise he returned the messenger and a fitting answer.
{77} Oct-r 8 st.n. Whilst wee were on our march, by a post from the
[great] Crowne generall wee were advertised that the Moskovites were pre-
189
  Vasily Borisovich Sheremetev (1622 – 1682), boyar from 1653, voyevoda of Kiev
1658 – 60, commander of the Russian army in Ukraine. He dearly paid for his
blunders which led to Russian capitulation at Chudnov in 1660, spending over
twenty years in Tatar imprisonment; he was only ransomed by the tsar shortly
before his death.
190
  From oboz, Russian and Ukrainian for military train.
191
  Lubomirski.

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pareing to march out with their whole army to joyne with the Cosakes, and
by another that they were marcheing out already. This did a litle trouble
our generall, yet being a magnanimous person and wise, presently ordered
all the dragowns to march back to Piatke and secure the passe there,
promiseing to send the rest of the foot and sufficient succours in case wee
were attacqued.
Wee marched in great hast to Piatky, and being unprovided of spades
for makeing a trench and fort to secure us, wee sent to the leaguer in all
hast for such materialls. But the appearance of the enemyes marching out
vanishing, it was thought unnecessary to send us any spades or shovels.
{77v} The generall, haveing sufficiently scarred the Cosakes and want-
ing provisions, returned to the campe in the evening with the army, leaving
the Sultan with his Tartars (to whom because of their fidelity and to oblige
them further he gave great gifts of his owne) to watch and infest the
Cosakes, as also some persons upon the acco[un]t of treating with the
Cosakes if they should desire it, but more to watch the Sultans actions.
The Cosakes, haveing received a deniall from the Sultan, as also
ane advice to agree with the Polls, grew remiss, being at great variance
amongst themselves, so that they resolved to stay where they were and let
Szeremeth take the paines and the hazard of marching to joyne with them.
In the meane tyme wee kept strong guards round the Moskovites {78}
leaguer, the one halfe of the army being alwayes in armes. The victualls
began to be scarce in our army, the provisions which were brought out of
some of the Cosakes townes, as Labun and others, not being sufficient to
maintaine so great a multitude, the most of what they had brought along
with them being neer spent, and by the most who were unprovident all
consumed. Nether was the market well furnished, and what was, was at
exceeding rates.

12. On the 12th by some come over out of the Moskovites leaguer wee
were informed that the Moskovites intended to march out. And because
they saw the fields befor them guarded by two large forts and so many
thowsands in readines, they intended to breake out at the left hand and
march through the woods and even to leave their artillery, in case they

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should be sore put to it. Wherefor 4 regiments of dragownes were ordered

to keep that post and to cast up a trench and brestworke {78v} to hinder
their passage. And so by halves wee guarded that post, and in the scitua-
tion had great advantage.
14. I being on the guard, asked leave of Coll. Wiwiersky, who com-
manded the guards at our post this night, to go downe befor day and
recognosce. W-ch he easily granting, I went with halfe a dozen of good
men very near to their leaguer, it being about ane howre befor day light.
I heard a great deale of stirring in their leaguer, but knew not to what
purpose, and so returneing, advised the coll[onel], who desired me to go
thither about day light. Which I did, and it being darke, came yet so neer
that I perceived them working at the wall of their leaguer, but could not dis-
cerne whither they were mending or levelling it. And so returning, advised
the coll. accordingly, giveing my opinion: that I thought they were rather
throwing the wall downe in order to their marching out, as {79} mending
it, which the more as ordinary noise and stirring in their leaguer confirmed.
About halfe an houre thereafter, it being clear day light, the Moskovites,
haveing levelled the whole wall on the front of their leaguer, marched out,
about a thowsand horse first, and then the whole army with their wag-
gonburg in their usuall order. Wee presently gott to horse and expected
whither they would bend their march.
When they were scarce cleare of leaguer, about 500 horse came march-
ing along the front of their army to us wards [sic], w-ch made me very
earnest with the coll. to give order to dismount and post us at the trench,
to the which nether he nor any of the rest had great inclination. But a
short tyme resolved this doubt, for these horsemen, being come to the
midle of the front of their waggonburg, turned to the right and marched
with their waggonburg directly forward towards our forts.
{79v} Nevertheless wee remained where wee were, notwithstanding
all the earnest pressings to the colonell to advance towards the enemy,
seeing our post was free of danger, and when the signe from our leaguer
was given for all to fall on, and the companies of the Polls cavalierie

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who were on the guards came rideing, I scarcely could gett our [ … ]192
perswaded to advance. At last being prevailed with, wee marched to the
forts, where the Moskovites sustained great losse befor they gott clear
of them. Here wee dismounted and leaving our horses with the usuall
number of guards to be brought after us, wee joyned with the foot and
persued them, they retireing and wee advancing. Sometymes wee were
w[i]t[h]in 30 or 40 paces of other, but when their battalions retreated
they made such hast that wee quickly lost sight of them and were out
of breath sometymes befor wee could come at their {80} reserves,
and then dischargeing upon other, the enemyes retired ordinarily in the
smoake.
There was hott service and great losse on both sides, for wee fought
with equall advantage on both sydes. Our cannon and regiments from the
leaguer were too long a comeing, so that wee sustained great loss befor
they came. But they being come, and the army disposed in good order,
wee attacqued them on all sides and put them hard to it. Neither were the
horse defficient, but couragiously charged the foot (for wee193 [were] very
few on horseback but some gentlmen and officers), and drove them in
within their waggonburg.
The service continued very hott for neer 4 howres, many falling, both
officers and sojours on both sydes, and the Moskovites had not retired
above halfe a mile as yet. About one aclock afternoone the Polls resolved
to charge with all their force, and the cavalierie on {80v} the right wing
charged so succesfully upon the Cosakes that they beat them into their
waggonburg, and following them, made them run and quite a great many of
their waggons. Which disordered and amazed the Moskovites so, that they
seeing the Cosakes running, they followed, yet in some order, with their
waggons downe to a low marishy ground and wood, where they imme-
diately fell to worke with the spade and entrenched their leaguer. Neither
had they stopt here, especially the Cosakes, if they had not been driven
back by the Tartars, who were gott befor them.
192
  Gap in MS. It seems that Gordon, who was eager to charge, could hardly contain a
word of abuse for the cautious colonel.
193
  Polish dragoons are meant.

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There were killed of the Moskovites and Cosakes who lay strowed
over the fields about 1,500 men, and of ours few lesse. At the breaking of
their waggonburg a chancellour194 and a colonell called Gaspar Gander (who
lay wounded in his waggon) were
{81} Oct-r 14. killed, and a writer195 called Bogdan
taken. Many officers of their syde were killed and diverse wounded, as
Colonells Crawfuird196, Sikow197 and many others. Of our syde were killed
of note: Dziallinsky starosta Bratiansky, a ruitm-r, Maior Elzberk, Ruitm-r
Debron, Captaine Talaw, with many others of inferiour quality.
Wee gott some hundreds of waggons, most with provisions, one with
copper money, which the sojours strowed over the field. Some waggons
were also taken with good booty therein, as cloaths and plate. I had killed
of my company 16 and the Wachtm-r Pawl Banzer. I was twice wounded
with musket ball, in the left shoulder and righ[t] legg. 23 sojours were
wounded also, some whereof dyed afterwards of their wounds.

18. Our army remained in the fields till Moonday, and then our baggage
was brought from the former leaguer, and wee encamped a large English
myle from the enemy, keeping our usuall guards, being the one halfe of the
army. {81v} The foot and dragowns were set on work to cast up redouts
and trenches on these sides of the leaguer where an eruption and evasion
was expected, and to hinder them from getting wood and forrage.
After this last effort of the Moskovites had turned to their greater
ruine and closser blocking up, the Cosakes with their hetman began to
take other measures, and sent delegates to the Polls leaguer to treat of
conditions. Whereof the Polls were glad and soone concluded with them
on the following points:

194
  Gordon later uses this term for the Russian dyak, a high government official.
195
  Later in the Diary this word often denotes a Russian podyachy, an official subordinate
to dyak.
196
  The Scot Daniel Crawford (†1674), colonel of the tsar’s army since the 1650s, later
major general. He was to play a crucial role in Gordon’s transfer to Russia and his
subsequent fate.
197
  Probably, Colonel Fiodor Andreyevich Zykov, also mentioned below, later voyevoda
in Surgut and member of the Duma.

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1. The confirmation of the articles granted to the Cosakes in the par-

liament holden at Varso A.D. 1659, in May.
2. The Cosakes to renounce the league and friendship they have with
the Moskovites.
3. To restore Vihofsky his lady, people and goods.
4. To affoord winter quarters for the [Polish] army in the Ukraina.
5. To assist, if need be, to straiten and drive the Moskovites out of all
the {82} Ukraina.
6. That the hetman should command or perswade so much as he can
the Colonells Cziczura and Dworetsky198 to desert the Moskovites and
come over to the Polls.

The articles subscrived, the Hetman Chmielnitsky gave his oath of fidelity
to the King and Republick of Polland in the field, and was then received
into the Polls leaguer with great jollity, Wisniowiecky and Szumofsky199
haveing been sent to the Cosacks leaguer at Slobodiszcza for pledges. The
Te Deum Laudamus was sung, cannons shott and much triumphing for this
agreement in the Polls army.
Oct-r 19. The Cosakes hetman did writt by a private messenger to
Cziczura, adviseing him of the agreement with the Polls, and that he
with his Cosakes should come over to the Polls. Cziczura, seeing to what
passe the Moskovites were brought, and no hopes of releefe or escape-
ing, resolved to leave the Moskovites and go over, only he desired to be
secured from the {82v} Tartars at his comeing out, and indemnity with
being included in the generall agreement. Which being promised, and
Thursday the 21th [sic] appointed for his marching out, the signe when the
Polls army had marched and surrounded the leaguer of the Moskovites.
21. The day being come, about noone the Polls regiments of foot in
good order marched towards the leaguer of the Moskovites, the cavaliery

198
  Colonels Timofey Tsetsura of Pereyaslav and Vasily Dvoretsky of Kiev were then
fighting on the Russian side.
199
  Prince Konstanty Krzysztof Wiśniowiecki (1633 – 1686) and Jan Szomowski, stol-
nik of Sandomierz.

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marching towards the right hand at a distance, but the foot, casting a com-
pass to the left, advanced round towards the redoubts.
In the meane tyme the Moskovites, seeing the whole army advanc-
ing towards them, knew not what to make of it, and Seremetuf called a
councell of warr. The Colonell Cziczura being also sent for, he promised
to come, but in the meane tyme gave orders to make ready his waggons
and all his men to be in readines. And being sent for a 2d and third tyme,
he being afrayed {83} that his intention was revealed, haveing his Cosakes
about him, shew them the hetman his letters and orders, telling them that
he was resolved to obey and march over to the Polls, and that they who
loved their duty, countrey and welfare should follow him. So he immedi-
ately marched out, haveing throwing [sic] downe a part of the wall.
There came out 8 or 10,000 men, but how soone the Tartars see them,
they could not hold but did fall on the Cosakes, killing, wounding and
takeing them who would or could not, because of the throng, defend
themselves. The Polls cavalierie made as much hast as possible to their
releefe, but befor they could come at them, the Tartars had killed some
hundreds and taken above a thowsand of them alive. The most part of
these who went out, seeing such entertainment, returned, and these who
were not gott out as yet remained, amongst whom was the Kyowish
Colonell Dworetsky, to whom Cziczura durst not reveale his purpose.
There were brought to our leaguer about 2,000 of them with 10 col-
lours, who were
{83v} Oct-r 21. given to me to be guarded, but did not continue,
every gentleman knowing and craveing his owne pawres. So, by order take-
ing them away by townes and villages, I was soone quite of them all, the
rest who had not masters being dismissed. The Colonell Cziczura was
likewise put under a guard for marching out befor the army came neer, for
it was ordered that upon their marching out our army should fall into the
Moskovites leaguer, or at least have received and secured them from the
Tartars in their marching out.
The Moskovites now seeing all hope of releefe vanished, and not trust-
ing the Cosakes who returned and remained with them, as also provisions
failing and sickness through the eating of halfe boyled horse flesh and

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drinking mossy water, as also the intollerable stenching encreasing, they

resolved to treat, and sending to the Polls generalls, desired a cessation and
that commissioners might be deputed to treat.
This was very acceptable newes to the Polls, for their army was sore
diminished and many sick amongst them, for provisions were very scarce,
especially among the foot, most whereof had {84} ben [sic] long ago eat-
ing horse flesh. The horses also were failing, and in one cold rainy night
about 10,000200 horses dyed in the leaguer. The old generall201 also being
sickly, was very willing to have an end of the business, the winter also
drawing near and the weather very chillish cold.
Notice was given to the Nuradin Sultan that the Tartars202 were seeking
peace, and that the hetmans were resolving for many reasons to treat with
them. Whereupon the Sultan, calling together his murzaes203, advised them
of the notification, who all of them shewed very great mislykeing thereof,
and cryed out that if the Polls will be ffriends with the Moskovites, they
must be enemyes with them, and this not only among themselves, but
openly in the Polls leaguer. Yet, being mollifyed by gifts, especially the
principall of them, they unwillingly assented.
27. On the 27th, being Wednesday, the commissioners did meet in the
fields betwixt the leaguers. For the Polls were Duke Dimitre Wisniowiecky
palatin of Bels204, Bienewsky palatin of Czernichow, Potocky starosta
Halicky, Nemirzicz podkomorzy205 of Kyow, and {84v} Szumofsky stol-
nik206 Sandomirsky. And for the Moskovites were Kniaz Osip Ivanovits

200
  Normally Gordon is not prone to exaggerations, but here a slip is possible (10,000
for 1,000).
201
  Hetman Stanisław Rewera Potocki was over 80 years of age at the time of this
campaign.
202
  It must be Russians.
203
  Tatar noblemen.
204
  Prince Dymitr Jerzy Wiśniowiecki (1631 – 1682), wojewoda of Bełz.
205
  Podkomorzy (Polish) – judge dealing with land disputes.
206
  Stolnik (Polish and Russian) – court official in Poland-Lithuania and Russia, origi-
nally responsible for serving the royal table.

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Szerbaty a castellan207, Kniaz Gregory Affanasseovitz Koslovsky208 stolnik,

Ivan Pawlovitz Akinfow stolnik, and 2 colonells, Fiodor Zykow and Ivan
Monasteruf.

No[vembe]r 1, Moonday. To be short, the treaty was concluded on

Moonday the first of November, and the following articles agreed and
accorded:

1. That they should deliver all their collours, armes, cannon and ammuni-
tion, only 100 men besides the officers were to keep their armes.
2. That all the garrisons of the Moskovites shall march out of the
townes in the Ukraina, and they to renounce all pretences to them and
that countrey.
3. The Moskovites shall give to the Tartars 60,000 reichsthalers.
4. The Cosakes, which remained as yet by the Moskovites, not to be
included, but to be at the Polls mercy and disposall.
5. The Moskovites in this army and in the garrisons of the Ukraina to
be safely convoyed to Putimly209 or any other places belonging really to
the Moskovites.
6. That the Boyar Seremetuf with the other woywods and 8 of the chief-
est persons remaine as pledges by the generalls, till the articles for paying
the Tartars and delivering the Ukraina be performed.
{85} It was added that the Tartars should have 20 Russe gentlemen
in pawne for their money, but privately concluded with them that they
should have Seremetuf himself, and that 200 of the other chieffest men
in the army should remaine by the Polls untill the garrisons in the Ukraina
were evacuated, and these to cary their swords; the army to be quartered
in the townes of the Ukraina, and when the garrisons in Kyow, Nizin,
Czernichow and Pereaslaw shall march, that they with the army shall be

207
  Prince (Russian: Kniaz’) О.I. Shcherbaty, or Shcherbatov (†1667), voyevoda and,
from 1660, okolnichy (Russian court office next to boyar).
208
  Prince G.А. Kozlovsky (1612 – 1693/4), okolnichy from 1669, voyevoda of Kiev
1669 – 72, boyar from 1682.
209
  Putivl’, Ukraine.

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safely convoyed to the borders of Russeland; and that the strangers who
shall be willing to serve the Polls shall have their wiwes, children and
goods out of Russia.

No-r 3. On Wednesday the Cosakes marched out and delivered up their

collours and armes, and were immediately taken all away by the Tartars,
who like ravenous harpyes were impatiently hovering untill the signe was
given them to advance and take them, the Moskovites even throwing these
over their walls who fled or were not gone out of their leaguer. It was
a pittyfull sight to see so many Christians caryed away into a miserable
{85v} slavery and captivity, but the Tartars were insolent and unreason-
able, and could not be satisfyed but with all, and the Polls were not in a
capacity to resist or disoblige them.
No-r 4. The Moskovites marched out regiment and company-wise,
horse and foot, and befor the leaguer delivered up their collours, cannon
and armes, and then went into their leaguer againe. They delivered 153
collours and standarts, besides the great called the Tzaars collours belong-
ing to the woywods, and 26 pieces of small cannon.
The Tartars not content to have taken all the Cosakes, who were at
least 8 or 9,000, but threatened now that the Moskovites were disarmed to
take them also, and when the generalls sent to the Nuradin Sultan that he
would command his Tartars and remove them farther, he excused it, say-
ing he could not gett them governed. Wherefor the generalls gave notice
to Szeremetuf with advice that he with such as he pleased would march
out and come into the Polls leaguer, to which he readily condiscended,
and calling together the p[rinci]p[a]ll persons of the army officers and
{86} gentlmen to the number of about 2,000, he marched out with bag-
gage and all, and was received and conducted to the leaguer by the convoy
which waited for them. But the servants and rable of the Polls getting
notice, run out of the leaguer and, meeting them halfe way, did fall upon
the Moskovites, so that with great danger and trouble they recovered the
leaguer, but not without loss of some of their baggage, and it being late
and darke, each tooke up shelter where they could best. However, the
grosse of them with Szeremetuf recovered the generalls tent. The other

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woywods tooke harbor by Coll. Nemerits, where they were eased of the best
of their baggage. The colonells and other officers of the strangers went
by strangers. The Russe officers and gentlemen were given to me to be
guarded by our generalls pavilion, where they rested secure all night.
The Tartars were hugely discontent at this agreement, albeit the Sultan
and chieffe mursaes were consulted with and consented to it. Yet the inferiour
sort exclaimed openly against it and cryed out on the bazar or market place,
that since {86v} both Cosakes and Moskovites were become ffriends with
us, they must be our enemyes. And now, hearing that the woywods with the
p[rinci]p[a]ll persons were received into our leaguer and protection, they
gathered together and about midnight began to fall upon the Moskovites
in their leaguer. The usuall watch in the redouts about their leaguer, being
about 400 men, resisted and kept them of above ane howre and killed
diverse of them. Whereat they being more incensed, broke through, whilst
others assailed our sojors in the redowts, and after ane howre or two resist-
ance of the Moskovites with long poles, cudgels, horse bones and such
like weapons (their owne being taken from them), where some few of the
Tartars were killed, at last they prevailed, and breaking into their leaguer,
tooke and caryed them all away. 74 of our sojours were killed, and the
Tartars being gone, the rest receiveing orders, marched into our leaguer.
Our generalls seemed hugely discontent herewith, yet I do not beleeve that
they were {87} so much grieved as they seemed. However, I am confident
that the generalls knew nothing of the Tartars designe.
No-r 5. Being Fridday, the Tartars Chancellour Camamet Mursa came
from the Sultan to the generalls, requiring Seremetuf to be delivered to
him. After some expostulation about forcing the Moskovites leaguer
and killing so many of our men, which the Mursa excused as done by
the common sort of the Tartars, whom they could not get commanded,
the Crowne marshall went to the [great] Crowne generalls tent and after
ane hours discourse tooke his leave of him. Being returned, Seremetuf
with the other woywods were brought to him, and dinner being ready, were
desired to sitt downe, the Mursa being placed also.
Befor victualls were served in, the Crowne marshall by an interpreter
caused tell Seremetuf that according to agreement he was to be delivered to

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the Sultan and remaine with him so long untill the summe {87v} promised
to the Tartars should be delivered to them, which he seemed at first not
well to understand. But being told againe, he was hugely surprized, as the
other woywods also, and began to expostulate very sharply about the breach
of the articles. But the Crowne marshall answered them very calmely,
telling them that he with the other woywods and so many of the chieffest
persons in the army were by the articles to remaine with the generalls untill
the articles shall be fulfilled; that the Sultan was to be esteemed a generall
also, haveing the command of such a considerable part of the army, and
that it was but reason that the Sultan should have a pledge for the money
which was promised them.
Seremetuf replyed that the articles were broken by massacring and
carying away their army the night befor; that when the garrison should
be delivered up, and that the souldiers therein should be so treated,
where should the promised money be gotten, or what would {88} the
world judge of it? The Crowne marshall replyed againe that for forcing
the leaguer and carying away the sojors, it was not only not intended or
designed by them, but to the contrary, they were very sorry for it; and
the Polls guards had done their utmost in defending them, the[y] being
most killed or caryed away also; that he had sent to the Sultan to expos-
tulate about it; that the Sultan excused it as don[e] altogether against
his will by the unruly rable; that he would make inquisition about it and
make such redress as he could possible. But as to the feare that the gar-
rison souldiers should be so used, when the townes should be evacuated,
it was needless, for such care should be taken as no such thing should
happen.
After changing of some more hotter words, the Russes standing up,
did fall to entreating, earnestly beseeching that Seremetuf might not be
delivered, but being told that there was no remedy, it being so concluded,
Seremetuf, folding his hands, said, “Then am I lost with soule and body!”,
and Koslofsky said then, “Let us
{88v} No-r 5. all be then delivered over together”. But
the Crowne marshall, takeing him up short, said, “You are not at your
owne disposall now, but at ours”, wherewith the victualls being served up,

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they were desired to eat. The woywods did eat but litle, and Seremetuf noth-
ing at all, nor would, though entreated, drink.
After dinner Seremetuf desired to speake with the Crowne marshall
apart, which he did about a quarter of ane howre, the Tartars Mursa being
all the tyme very impatient. By this tyme Seremetufs waggons and servants
were brought. He was convoyed by the Crowne marshall to the utmost
doore, and by the woywods to the great tent, where with teares they parted.
Seremetuf very disconsolate went into his covered waggon, haveing with
him 5 waggons more and 20 or 30 servants and others about him, whom
about 300 Tartars convoyed away.
This morning was a Russe lt. colonell called Simon Pisarsuf and a
ruitm-r of ours {89} called Czaplitsky210 dispatched to Kyow with letters
written at the conclusion of the capitulation, for the rendition of that and
other places according to the agreement.
In the evening the Crowne great generall, being sickly and through age
very tender, marched out of the leaguer towards Polland, takeing with him
only a Polls company of horse, his lyfe company of dragowns and his
company of hayduks or Hungarian foot.
This evening also dyed Lt. Coll. Thomas Menezes211 of his wounds,
haveing been saved by my Lord Harry Gordon at the comeing out of the
leaguer the night befor.
The Russe officers and gentlmen, who were under my guard by the
generalls tent, were in great perplexity when they saw their Generall
Seremetuf delivered over to the Tartars. Most of them had their armes,
and some waggons with their best goods by them, and now the leaguer
being voyd of the Tartars, the servants and rable conveened, and first by
stealth entised and tooke away some of the Moskovites. {89v} But this
perceived, and stricter guard keeped, they gathering in greater numbers,
began by force to hale away some. Notice whereof being given by me to
the Crowne marshall, and advised to dispose of them among his owne
companyes of the Polls, he gave orders to these about him to take them
210
  Gordon calls this officer Czaplicki or Czapliński; other sources give the latter form
(S.М. Soloviev, Sochineniya. Kniga VI (Мoscow, 1991), p. 88).
211
  Thomas Menzies, Scottish officer in the tsar’s service since 1654.

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and restore them upon demand, which they willingly embraced, and being
many of them, they went and distributed them among themselves.
Orders being given that the artillery should be brought to the neerest
towns, the Generall of the artillery Wulffe and Coll. Czarnotzy their regi-
ments were left to secure and convoy them.
No-r 7. Wee takeing only 8 field pieces and 2 mortar pieces with
us, marched to Piatke and lodged rather as encamped in the woods by
Slobodistscha, the unprovident supping but slenderly because our wag-
gons could not gett up to us. Most of our baggage wee sent back, and I
myne with my servants to Labune.
{90} No-r 8, Moond[ay]. Wee marched not early, expecting our wag-
gons, most whereof had stayed on the other syde of the passe. The head
quarters was this night at Kodna; the regiment tooke up their quarters in
the villages therabout, where was litle to be had.
9. Wee marched and by [ … ], haveing all this march nothing to eat but
what wee had in our waggons. For neither bread nor any other victualls
was any where to be had, so that to the poore foot-souldiers even horse
flesh was very acceptable.
10. Wee had our quarters by a small ruined towne called [ … ].
11. Wee encamped by [ … ], keeping now closser together with the
foot.
12. Wee encamped at Studintza, and came the next day, being Saturnday,
to Chorostosheva212. {90v} In Chorostoshow were quartered all the regi-
ments of foot of the field marshalls division, some companies of Polls
horse and the generalls regiment of dragowns. The rest of the army was
quartered in the neerest townes.
Wee had notice that Kniaz Yury Nikitits Boratinsky213 had marched out
of Kyow with about 7,000 men to the releefe of Seremetuf, but hearing
of the capitulation was returned.

212
  Korostyshiv.
213
  Prince Yu.N. Boriatinsky (†1685), voyevoda of Kiev in 1658 – 61, okolnichy from
1663, boyar from 1671; successful commander against the Poles and Stepan
Razin’s rebel Cossacks.

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No-r 18. All the chieffe officers of the army, being summoned to
conveene this day, it was consulted about the disposing of the army into
their winter quarters, which the Cosakes had promised to affoord them in
their townes, and to supply them with provisions. Strict orders was given
to keep good discipline and to do no insolence nor oppression to the
Cosakes; to be vigilant in their quarters, to prevent surprizall; to permitt
none upon whatsoever account to go from their regiments or collours; to
cause {91} the subalterne officers looke well to their duty; the souldiers
to keep their armes fixt and be spareing of their ammunition, with many
other things necessary to be observed. But above all it was recommended
to them to behave themselves civilly among the Cossakes, not to wrong,
irritate or insult over them, nor give them any occasion of complaining.
The regiment quartermasters were ordered to attend on the palatine
of Czernichow, who was to go to the convocation of the Cossakes, who
were to conveene about the regulateing of their quarters. It was promised
to the officers and souldiers that, notwithstanding their subsistance in the
Ukraina, consideration should be had of their good services, and not only
their pay, but ane equivalent for the winter quarters, w-ch they should have
had in Polland, should be sent them.
{91v} No-r 19. This day was a foot souldier harquebused for breaking
of his landlord, a Cosake, his head to blood.
All the Moskovite prisoners were ordered to be brought in and deliv-
ered over.
20. Colonell Corffe and Ruitm-r Eppinger going out to fight a duell,
the generall getting notice, sent me after them to fetch them back againe.
I overtooke them a great mile from the towne, just as they were going to
it, and brought them back againe. The colonell was commanded to arrest
in his quarters, and the ruitm-r put under the guard.
Ruitm-r Stanislafsky, haveing with a well equipped company of horse
of his owne levying convoyed up the cloth and money due to the Tartars
and delivered it of to them, comeing now to Chorostosow, desired his
company to be enrolled for their winter quarters in the Ukraina. Which,
because of a grudge which Lubomirsky had at him, he with great
intercession and difficulty obtained.

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{92} 21, Sun[day]. A Russe ruitm-r called Kirila Olferiuf Loshakuf

came, being sent from the woywod of Kyof, Kniaz Yury Mikitits Boratinsky.
His business was to shew that the woywod had received Seremetuf his let-
ter, ordering him to deliver up Kyof, which he could not do without an
express order from the Czar; and that he had sent the letter to the Czar
and hoped in short tyme to receive ane answer. In the meane tyme he
desired that liberty be for messengers to go and come.
24. He had audience on Wednesday the 24th, and at the delivery of his
letters told his errand as above. The generall returned answer that they
would willingly admitt intercourse of messengers, who should have safe
conducts, and desired that Ruitm-r Czaplitsky might be dismissed. The
messenger desired permission to speake with their woywods who were pris-
oners with us, which was permitted, and I sent along with him. I had orders
that they should speake nothing privately. Being returned to my lodging,
the generall sent for me and told {92v} me that he could not let the ruitm-r
go befor Czaplinsky should be returned. I told him that it appeared this
Ruitm-r Loshakow was a very meane person, and that sixe of these he had
with him were trowpers and the other 3 his servants; that the exchange
was too unequall; that they would pretend great reason for detaining of
Czaplinsky upon this account; and that it would interrupt all correspond-
ence with the enemy, which was much mor beneficiall and advantagious for
us as for them. Wherewith being moved, he gave orders to dismisse him.
26, Frid[ay]. The Tartars Chancellour Camamet Murza came to
Chorostoshow, and haveing concluded about the number and time of
giveing assistance, he with great importunity insisted to have some more
of the prisoners for surety of the money they were to have from the
Moskovites, and was very urgent to have the other woywods, at least the
lesser of the three, whom he called a merchant. Which being denyed, he
desired the strangers, {93} which being denyed also, he was much dissatis-
fyed. Yet, not to disoblige the Tartars altogether, 13 persons, being Russe
gentlmen and officers, were given him.
27. Coll. Lanshinsky, haveing received all the prisoners except the woy-
wods and two colonells, marched towards Polland, haveing winter quarters
assigned to him in the Podgurs about Crosna.

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 1660 103

The field and Crowne marshall, haveing had notice from the palatine
of Czernichow that he had concluded with the Cosakes about quartering
of the army, and the head or chieffe quarters was to be at Bially Cerkiew,
yet for the better regulating of all effaires he must stay a few dayes longer,
resolved to tary his comeing, yet dismissed us with orders to march directly
to Olika.
30. Wee marched from Chorostosow and lodged at Wisoky in very cold
and bare quarters, no liveing creature being here.

{93v} Dec-r 1, Wed. Wee marched two howres befor day, and comeing to
Czernichow214, where our stranger cavalierie were quartered, wee halted
about an houre, and came to Wilsk, where wee quartered and lodged this
night.
2. Wee marched through Pulin and quartered in Janseri215 all night.
3. Wee marched through Sokolova and Czerinie216, two ruined (as all
the other) townes, haveing the river Slucz on our left hand, which crossing
below the towne Zwiahel, wee lodged amongst the gardens. It being very
cold, and the souldiers beginning to cutt downe the fruit trees to burne, I
caused beat the drums and marched
4. to Polein217, a village about a mile short of Corets, where wee found
Colonell Laczinsky with the Moskovites prisoners.
{94} 6, Moond[ay]. The generall came and lodged in Corets all night.
7. Wee marched and quartered at Mezerits218.
8. Wee marched through Tarczin219 and quartered in Alexandria,
haveing sent a corporallship of dragowns along with the generall, who
made greater hast as wee, by reason of the foot whom wee could not
leave.
9. Wee crossed the river Horin with great difficulty and quartered in a
214
  Cherniakhiv.
215
  I could not find this place even on detailed old maps of Volyn province.
216
  Apparently, Chernitsa.
217
  Unidentified place. D.Е. Кoehler’s unpublished Russian translation of the Diary
renders it as “Pelchin”.
218
  Mezhirichi.
219
  Evidently, Tuchin near Rivne.

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 104 1660, 1661

village a mile short of Plevania220.

10. Wee marched through Plevania, which is the residence of the
Dukes of Czartorinsko, and comeing to Olika, had quarters given us in
the towne. Here my servants and horses were come two dayes befor from
Labuin, whither I had sent them from Czudnova.
This Olika is a pretty towne wherein dwell many Jewes. The palace is
a large building well contrived and fortified with a brick wall and moate.
It belongeth to
{94v} Dec-r. the relict of a deceassed Duke of the Radzivils,
she being our generalls sister, a very grave matron.
I remained here with the one halfe of the company, the other with all
our superfluous horses and servants were sent to [ … ], where they had
meat, drink and provender gratis. Here wee had plentifull entertainment
besides our due pay. Many strangers comeing to visitt and congratulate his
Excellency, a thanksgiving day was kept and the Te Deum Laudamus was
sung with great solemnity.221

{95} 1661

Jan-r 3, Moon[day]. The generalls cookes, going about for a kolenda222 and
being drunk, in a squable killed one of my drummers, who being wounded
in the head, dyed about 4 houres after he was
4. wounded. The cookes
were by the generalls order the next day seased and imprisoned, and I
commanded to persue them by law.
5. I went to the rhadthouse223 or councell howse of the towne and legally

220
  Klevan’.
221
  In the MS after this entry there are 6 blank folios, pages numbered by Gordon
187 – 198.
222
  Kolęda (Polish) – originally, pre-Christian festival common to Slavs, linked with win-
ter solstice and New Year, and later associated with Christmas. The term denotes
the tradition of strolling, singing and having fun on Christmas Eve, walking from
house to house. It also means such songs themselves. This custom has been
strongest in Ukraine.
223
  Rathaus (German) – town hall.

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persued the murtherers, who without much ado confessed, and 3 of them
being found guilty of giveing him deadly wounds, were sentenced to be
beheaded.
6, Thur[sday]. I was told that if I would agree with the apothecaryes
and haydukes widdowes, who wer persuing Corporall Balfowre for killing
or rather murthering their husbands in Reshova, whi[l]st wee were in
the campagne, he being imprisoned and sentenced already, and interceed
{95v} for the cookes, the corporall should be pardoned. I being glad of
the occasion of saveing a countrey- and pretty mans lyfe, undertooke
the business, and finding the hayducks wyfe being a poor woman wearyed
with solliciting, and the more willing to agree, I gott my landlady to invite
her and entertaine her to the degree of mirth, and found the meanes to
compound with her. And so, giveing her 50 florens, I gott a note from
her that she was no complainer upon Balfowr. But with the other I had
a great deale more to do, but at last she finding that the generall was
enclined to pardon the corporall, I agreed with her lykewise and gave her
200 florens, and gott a note of her also. Which notes, subscrived befor
witnesses, I brought
{96} Ja-ry 9, Sund[ay] to the generall, and at the same tyme
interceeded for the cookes lyves, whereat at first he seemingly scrupled,
but at last being assisted by these about him, I obtained my desire,
getting pardon both for the corporall and the cookes. And two dayes
thereafter he asked me what the agreement with the widdowes had cost
me. I telling him the truth, he caused the treasurer give me my money
out of his owne treasure, forbidding him to defalke it of the corporalls
pay.
10. Complaints being come of great insolencies done by a regiment
marching to the Ukraina, I was sent out with a party of my dragouns to
fetch in the officers, which accordingly I did, bringing a ruitm-r and a cap-
taine on whom the greatest complaints were made along with [me], who
were committed under the hayducks guard.
{96v} Ja-ry 12, Wed. Two dayes thereafter Coll. Brandt to whom these
officers belonged came, and was but coldly welcomed. With him came
one Maior Garshor, who, haveing been a captaine, this Brandt who was

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but a maior himself (and had assumed the name of colonell upon the
acco[un]t of haveing levyed a regiment) engaged to be his maior upon the
Crowne generalls recommendation. To be short, this Brandt, haveing by
my advice and help gotten himself insinuated into the generalls favour,
gott pardon for his officers, permitted these people he had levyed to be
divided among other regiments for recruiting them, upon condition to
have a commission for levying another regiment, and to be effectually
colonell. And his exspectant Maior Garshor by my meanes also obtained
a pass for maior and went for Prussia.
{97} Ja-ry 14, Frid. A messenger came from the Tartars chan to
congratulate the victory over the Moskovites and to conferr about the
prosecuting the warr against them in the spring, who receiving answer to
satisfaction, and rewarded and regalized bountifully, returned.
16. The field marshall had a great feast, at which were the Starosta
Sokalsky (a suiter to the generalls daughter) with many others. All were
merry, and they danced till past midnight.
Haveing had notice of our Kings happy restauration224, and hopeing to
gett employment in my owne countrey, for which purpose I had written to
my father, I sollicited the felt marshall for my passe, which he was very loth
to grant. Yet after great pressing of him, he told me that I should remaine
by the company this winter, and if in the spring I desired my pass, I should
have it, adding that, by giveing it now, I should but spend any thing I had
befor I could get passage by sea to Scotland. A reall fatherly advice!

{97v} Ja-ry 21, Frid. My servants and horses being returned from the
quarters, I marched in a very stormy day to Luczko upon the river Stier.
Here live many Jewes.
Wee marched through the countrey, takeing a transeant quarter with
good convenience of meat, drink and lodging, but no other advantage as
to money.

26. Wee marched throw Sokal and quartered in a village a mile beyond it.

224
  See above, fol. 48 v.

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 1661 107

27. Wee marched through Belza and quartered in the village Ufnova225.
28. Wee marched to Rebeny226, and in the following dayes to Rava,
Feb. 1, Tuesd. Potetits227,
Nemirowa, Kochanova, Klekovets , Latimer, Radimna, Rokitniza,
228

Prochnik, haveing crossed the r[iver] San, Dirbeck, Dimova, Bresova229

and to Krosna, haveing left the company to march at leasure to Bresova.
This Crosna is a fine compact towne, scituate by the rivolet Vislock.
It is distant from Dukla, where is the staple of the Hungarian wynes, 3
miles, from {98} Biecz 6 miles, from Demboftsa 3 miles, from Sanok
[ … ] myles. Here was lately deceassed a Scotsman called Robert Portes or
Portius, a very rich man and great benefactor to the poor there and the
countrey thereabout. He did many workes of charity and magnificence to
the monasteryes and churches, and left great legacies to the King, Queen,
spirituall person[s] and p[rinci]p[a]ll nobility, as also the churches, monas-
teryes and poore. And yet three persons whom he left his aires had great
estates left them, so that it is incredible what a vast estate he had. He had
his only or greatest trade in wynes, and was accounted upright in dealing
and magnificent in living. He lay as yet unburyed, great preparations being
makeing for interring of him.
Haveing been feasted by the Colonell Lacinsky, the starost and by
Francis {98v} Gordon, John Dawson and Andrew Portes, the aires of
the fors-d Robert Portes, and haveing gotten an assignation on the towne
Nisankovits230 with its dependencies for our winter quarters, I departed
from thence, haveing been much importuned by the colonell not to desert
the service, but to take a captaines place, which to tell me, he said, the
generall gave him commission. I declined it, pretending my effaires in
Scotland to require my presence there.
I lodged in a village short of Bresowa a mile, where Captaine
Weisenstein was quartered with his company, and the next day early came
225
  Uhniv (Ukrainian), Uhnów (Polish).
226
  Hrebenne.
227
  Potelych.
228
  Krakovets.
229
  Dubiecko, Dynów and Brzozów, Poland.
230
  Nyzhankovychi (Ukrainian), Niżankowice (Polish).

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to Bresova, where I found the company, with which after breakfast I

marched and lodged in the village Uluts. Where crossing the river San by
foord, I quartered in the litle towne [ … ], and the next night in the village
[ … ], and so the next day about noone to Nizankovits, {99} where find-
ing that the dependencies formerly belonging to that towne were long ago
dismembred from it, and that the Duke Michaell Radzivill, to whom it did
then belong, would not permitt us to quarter any where else but in the
towne, which was but a poor place and not able to maintaine us. The Lt.
Colonell Pnewsky went to Premisl231, where the duke then resided, to sol-
licite for enlargment of our quarters, which being denyed, and to me the
day thereafter also. Albeit I cannot omitt to remember the great civility he
used to me, for he both detained me to dinner and kept me till midnight
with all sort of plentifull entertainment, and gave orders that my servants
and horses should be provided for by the provost at the townes charge.
But I haveing taken my leave of the duke, and riseing in the morning and
makeing ready to depart, the landlord came {99v} asking for payment of
what my ser[van]ts and horses had destroyed. And indeed my servants
had made themselves merry upon the towns score, so that the reckoning
amounted to about 4 reichs dollers, which I relying on the dukes order,
turned over to the provost. But he absolutely deny[i]ng, and I loth to be
heard for such a petty matter, payed it my self, yet caused tell the provost
that it should be a deare lawing or shott to him and the towne.
Being returned to Nizankovits and finding that the towne was not able
to maintaine us, wee resolved to send one to our generall to informe him
of our condition and to sollicite for inlargement or other quarters. In
the meane tyme, not to be overburthensome or ruine the towne, leaving
our baggage and {100} most of our servants there, I marched with the
company into the countrey, takeing a transeant quarter, haveing visited the
townes Dobromile, Sanbors232, Stary Solets, Veyenstein and the villages
thereabouts, more to our as their advantage.
On the 8th day I came neer to our quarters, where I received orders
to march to Demboftsa, where wee should be better accommodated with
231
  Przemyśl.
232
  Sambor.

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quarters as where wee were. And haveing notice that the lt. colonell, who
had remained in the quarters, was makeing ready and stayed for me to
breakfast, I haveing resolved to be avenged of Premisl, the absence of the
duke from the towne and ours from the quarters favouring the designe,
sent some horsemen to guard the passages and stop all persons going from
our quarters or the villages adjacent to the towne, for fear they should gett
intelligence of our returne.
{100v} Feb. 24, Thursd. And being at breakfast, wee began to consult
what way and course wee should take. The lt. colonell was for marching
back the way wee came, and I for going the way of Premisl, giveing reasons
that the way wee came wee had quartered upon the villages and lands of
gentlemen, which to burthen twice in so short a space could not be well
taken and might occasion complaints; that if wee could not gett into the
towne of Premisl, wee might quarter in the suburbs, and if not permitted
or accommodated there, wee might quarter in a village beyond it; to the
which the lt. colonell very unwillingly condiscended, fearing some quarrell
or misfortune.
So after breakfast wee marched away with as litle noise as possible.
I sent about another way to the right hand some reformed233 officers in
their sledges, giveing each of them 2 good stout fellowes with them, com-
manding them to keep equally with the company, and to be sure to be
upon the bridge against the tyme that wee {101} should come within sight
of the towne. This towne standeth in a low ground by the river San, and
from the way wee came could not be seen, nor wee descryed till wee were
within a musquet shott of it. It hath a good strong wall, dry moat with
draw bridges.
The officers whom I had sent the other way keeped the tyme exactly,
for just as I began to appear, they were gott upon the bridge. Three
Jewes going on horseback out of the towne and seeing the officers,
returned in hast. The officers following them closs at the heeles, gott
on the draw-bridge, and one of the sledges in the port or gate. I made

  Elsewhere in the Diary, reformado, i.e. officers deprived of command by reorganisa-

233

tion or disbandment of their units, but retaining ranks and receiving full or half
pay.

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hast with 10 or 12 horsemen whom I had appointed to follow me, and

being well mounted, came just as the townes guards had turned the
sledge crosse the gate and were shutting it. I caused my horse leape over
the sledge and gott clear within the gate, the officers with the foot and
these I brought with quitting their horses followed me, {101v} yet not so
soone but that 15 or 20 of the watch were gott about me, and one with
a syth stretched out on a long pole cutted through the top of my boote
w[i]t[h]out doing me further harme save some dry stroakes from others.
Wee drove them from the gate and tooke possession thereof, and posted
back to hasten forward the foot. All the horsmen stayed within the gate
on horsebak, and 10 or 12 on foot guarded the gate.
I sent up the forier to the provost to tell him to cause make quarters for
us in the towne, but the provost caused ring the bells and beat the drums
to draw the burgers together, and said to the forier that wee were come in
by force, and by the same he would drive us out againe. Which vexed me,
because our foot were a great way of, and the lt. colonell fearing some mis-
chieffe, was resolving to march out of the towne againe, which I opposed
by all meanes, and to gaine tyme I rode up {102} myself to the provost,
takeing only 5 or 6 along with me on horseback.
When I came to the market place, the burgers were flocking to the
rhatdhouse and takeing out their collours (whereof I saw 6) and drawing up
in companies on all sydes. I rode by takeing no great notice of them, nor
they of me, and being come to the provosts house, I sent in one to desire
him to come out and speak with me. He caused tell me that if I had any
thing to do with him, I should come in to him, for he would not come out
to me. So I rode back againe to the lt. coll., who was in great perplexity,
hearing such a great noise and tumult in all quarters of the towne, and
urged to march out againe. But I told him how great a shame it would be
for us to leave it so, and that I had been with the provost, whose heart
was fallen, and was resolving to compound. In the meane tyme I posted
post upon post to have the foot come up, for wee {102v} had but about
40 horse and 80 foot.
The foot being come, I alighted from my horse and told the lt. coll. that
he would make sure gate, and that I would march to the market place and

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dislodge those I found there, yet that I would not be the first aggressor, and
for the greater security I tooke some gentlemen who by chance were there
(causing writt downe their names) along with to be witnesses.
I marched at leasure, keeping great distance betwixt rankes and files to
make the greater show, and being come to the market place, I found the
burgers removed to the other syde. I had not sooner drawne up but the
provost with some burgers came to me, one haveing a great quantity of
bookes and papers under his arme. The provost began a formall oration
submissive enough, but I interrupting him said that bookes nor paper
could not quench our thirst nor hunger, that {103} wee must have vict-
ualls. And he beginning to alleadge priviledges and I do not know what,
I told him that he should go to the lt. colonell, who was at the gate, and
speak with him.
He haveing spoke with the lt. coll. and promised to compound, so
being that the company would first march out of the towne, the lt. coll.
sent to me once and againe to march, which I refuseing untill wee should
know both the agreement and have what was agreed for. So the lt. coll.
came to the market place and with the podstarost and provost went into a
house, where wee agreed that to be freed of quartering they should give
us 100 ducates, a hogshead of Hungarian wyne, 2 pieces of good blew
cloth and spices from the Jewes. W-ch haveing received, and the name of
the village where I should lodge with the company, I marched out with the
foot and sent along the foriers to make quarters. I returned for the horse
and the baggage, with whom I marched softly {103v} after, leaving the lt.
coll. with the reformed officers and others makeing merry in the towne.
Being on the way, I heard some shooting befor me, and comeing
neerer, I was informed by one of the dragownes that the pawres to the
number of 3[00] or 400 were drawne up befor the village, and had bar-
ricadoed the way and shott at [the soldiers] when they offered to remove
the barricado.
Haveing overtaken the foot, ready with their lighted matches, I made
hast towards the village, and being come near, I found befor me a very deep
valley with a steep descent and but one way through it, which was barrica-
doed, and on the other syde betwixt two forts or skonces 3[00] or 400 men

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drawne up armed with guns and sythes. In the forts they had some double
hakes234 or muskets, out of which they discharged diverse shott at us. I
seeing such strait ground, alighted from my horse and takeing the collours
among the foot, I marched to the right hand to seek a passage over the val-
ley, {104} because I feared too much danger in forcing the barricado. I sent
the horse with an officer to the left hand to seek a passage over, but not to
engage untill they should see me in action.
Haveing gon a pretty way and not finding any easy descent, I tooke
the neerest way downe into the valley, whither being come and drawne
up, I showed them the difficulty of a retreat. So, marching up towards the
hedges and being come to the uttermost, I caused a ranke or two fire at
them, but low, being loth to kill any, and breaking downe the hedge with
a great shout, I advanced towards them. Which they seeing and haveing
fired at us twice or thrice, they tooke the flight and deserted the nearest
shonce. I gave orders for the halfe to follow but not to kill any, and the
rest to stay by the collours. So, haveing followed them to a valley in the
middest of the village, they retired into a church on the other syde, from
whence they shot at us.
{104v} The horsemen whom I had sent to the other hand not finding
a passage over, alighted from their horses and went over on foot. And see-
ing the pawres fled out of the field, they advanced towards the other fort
wherein were about 100 men; I being gott between them and the church,
the place of their retreat, and being sore pressed on the other hand, [they]
were in a great perplexity. I haveing but few sojours with me and being
loth to turne their despair into fury, retired from the passage I kept and
gave them leave to run away to the church, yet so that diverse of them
were here killed.
I caused beat a gathering and sent a corporall with his squade and a
drum with him beating a march through the village, whilst I recovered the
high ground and lookt out a place where I might encampe for this night.
I sent a post to give notice to the lt. colonell what had past, but he being
come, gave orders to march with the foot to the hoffe or gentlemans {105}
234
  Doppelhaken (German) – large-calibre handguns used in forts, or light (up to 3
pounds) cannon used for grazing fire.

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house, whither the pawres were retireing from the church at the other end
of the village. He tooke the horse and marched directly through the village.
I being glad to have the lt. colonell engaged in the business also, that all
the burthen of the mischieffe might not ly on me alone, willingly assented,
albeit I saw difficulty enough in it. So, marching in a foot roade untill I
came near and between the pawres, who were comeing from the other
end of the village, and the hoffe, I presently entred into action with [them],
and was diverse tymes in great danger, it being past sunsett, and the bells
ringing in all the villages round about.
At last the gentleman to whom this village belonged came from his
towne Crasiczin with a great company, haveing two drums and a trumpet
with him, with which he made such a noise that the lt. colonell, being
afrayed he should fall on our bagage, marched back through the village
in
{105v} Feb. 24. great hast; which the foot seeing and imageining
the horse flying, began to fly also. I was admonished by these about me
that they were running, yet I would not beleeve that they would desert me,
untill I found at last but 10 or 12 persons about me. So I then thought it
tyme to be gone also, so makeing hast downe the hill, all left me except the
Corporall W-m Guild in the valley.
The gentlman with his company had cut of our passage and just
befor me killed the wachtm-r and one Jacob Jurdetsky, a dragowne, whom
whilst they were dispatching, I with the corporall gott through unper-
ceived. The passage being very strait up the hill, and I faint, with much
ado I recovered the sojours, whom I caused fire downe the lane, and so
retarded their persuite.
Being gott out into the fields and perceiving the pawres flocking {106}
after us, I resolved to draw them out into the fields and so be revenged
on them. So, recovering my horse, I gave orders to the sojours to fly as
confusedly as possible, and calling some of the best mounted horsemen
to me, I attended untill they should come out into the fields. But, whither
they were wearyed or suspected our designe, they would not hazard. Yet I
returned and drove them over their hedges, and without doubt wounded
if not killed some of them. It beginning to be darke, wee went back to a

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litle village, where our waggons were, and had made a waggonburg wherein
wee stayed all night. I caused distribute powder and bullets, intending
the next day to march through the village, and as occasion offered to be
revenged of the pawres.
{106v} Feb. 25, Frid. In the morning some gentlemen came to us,
who albeit no good ffriends to Krasiczinsky, yet diswaded us from
marching through the village, for the sojours being hugely exasperated
for losse of their comorads, would not be gotten restrained from doing
mischieffe. So wee sent three prisoners whom wee had taken into the
towne of Premisl to be examined, and entred a protestation. Wee sent
also a gentleman with his attendants, among whom were two of ours
disguised, to desire the bodies of the wachtm-r and dragowne and to take
notice what passed.
The gentleman nor any of his ser[van]ts did not appeare, only the voyt
or shults235 with his pawres denyed to have killed any of our men, yet shew
about 20 of theirs killed and about 30 wounded.

{107} Wee marched over the river San upon the ice and quartered in a
village 3 miles of.
26. Wee marched and quartered in the towne Dirbeck.
27. Wee lodged in Dimova.
28. Wee quartered by Bresova, and so,
Mart. marching by Crosna, came to
Demboftza, a litle towne at this tyme belonging to a gentleman called
Mnissek, who lived himself by Dukla. From hence the lt. coll. went to
Dombrovna to the generall and gave him an acco-t of our business by
Premisl, which was connived at.
In the tyme of my being here I went twice to Crosna and visited
ffriends there, and once to Biets to visit my good ffriend Milgast.
{107v} Mart. 50 men, who
had served the Roman Emperour in Hungary und[er] the Generall Susa
and deserted, were sent by the generall to me to be enrolled in the com-

235
  Schulze (German) – village elder.

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pany and gett quarters. They were very lusty tall men, most French and
Italians, some Spaniards.
Wee had this litle towne and some villages neer it for our quarters,
but lest the sojours should oppress the people too much, I ordered every
sojour to have a day a Scots pint of beer, a quatirka236 of brandy and such
fare as the landlord could affoord.
The best company I had in the tyme of my aboade here were two
noble ladyes widdowes, in whose lands my sojours were quartered, whose
memories for their civilityes I am obliged to reverence perpetually.

{108} April 10, Sund. On Palmesunday wee marched from Demboftsa

towards Tarnowa, which passing, wee came to Dombrovna and were
quartered there, receiving here our pay which wee had not received since
our going from Olika, our quarters both transeant and locall being indeed
a great deale better.

17. After wee had kept our Easter here and stayed 10 dayes more, wee had
orders to march, and crossing the r. Vistula at Opatovtsa, where wee quar-
tered. The next day, being a market day, wee marched to Vislitsa, thence
to Pienshowa, Chentshin, Kieltse, Czmielow, the hill of the Holy Cross,
where I received the Blessed Sacrament. From thence to Oppatova, Tarlo
and so to Solets and Janoftsa, whereabouts wee stayed till the generall
came.
Wee crossed the r. Vistula at Cazimirs and quartered in Bochotnicze,
from whence to Columbe237, and crossing the river Wieprs, wee passed by
Stenczicza and so along the r. Vistula to Varso.

{108v} May. Being come to Varso, wee had our quarters assigned us
in the suburbs without the New Towne. Two dayes thereafter, haveing
notice of the generalls arrivall, who with my lady238 and family came from
Janoftsa by water, wee rode thither, whither came most of the nobility to
236
  Kwaterka (Polish) – mug, one quarter of a quart.
237
  Gołąb.
238
  Princess Lubomirska.

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welcome him, there being in all neer 200 coaches and diverse companyes
of horse and dragowns, with great numbers of gentlemen and cavaliers,
which made a most splendid cavalcado.
At this tyme the parliament was holden wherein many things were
propounded, but few concluded. The p[rinci]p[a]ll things were: about
carrying on the warr against the Moskovite and reducing the rest of the
Cosakes; the payment of the armyes arreares and subsistance for the
future; the ratification of the peace with Sweden; and the nominateing
of a successor to the crowne, which the Queen with {109} the French
faction did drive at without intermission239 – besides many other matters
of less concernment.
As to the payment of the army and prosecuting the warr, they con-
sulted so long untill the army in the Ukraina mutinied for want of pay,
choised to themselves directors, left the Ukraina and marched into Polland
to seeke their pay – so, dum consulitur Romae, perit Saguntum!240
The business of nominateing a successor made the mischieffe
greater. For the better understanding of this I must relate some par-
ticulars. It is the nature of the Polls government that when a parliament
or seym241 is to be holden, comittees or seymiks ar to be called first in
every palatinate or province, where the points to be treated of in the
ensuing parliament, being sent thither by the King and his counsell, are
discussed, and deputies chosen, to whom instructions and commission
is given concerning {109v} such points as are to be treated of. Now, the
chieffe nobility and great officers of state and warr, albeit they cannot
be present but at one committee in one shire or province, yet they have
so many dependants and pensioners in sundry provinces that they have
great influences on the counsells and resolutions of these comittees.
And this is the reason why one deputy from a province, or as wee call
239
  King Jan II Kazimierz and Queen Maria Ludovica, being childless, wanted the
French prince Louis de Condé to succeed to their throne, but it did not happen.
240
  “While they consult in Rome, Saguntum perishes” (Lat.). In 218 BC Hannibal cap-
tured the Spanish city of Saguntum thanks to Roman inactivity, which led to war
between Carthage and Rome. Сf. Titus Livius, Ab urbe condita, XXI, 7, 1 – “Dum
ea Romani parant consultantque, iam Saguntum summa ui oppugnabatur”.
241
  Sejm (Polish) – parliament.

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him, a knight of a shire, following his commission and instructions may

protest against the proceedings of a whole parliament, and that lawfully,
as agreeing with their constitutions, and safely being supported by the
province for which he is commissioner, and backed without doubt by
some of the chieffe nobility.
But to the purpose. When the article of nominateing a successor to
the crowne dureing the lyfe of the present King {110} was discussed, it
is said, and not improbable, that the Crowne and Felt Marshall
Lubomirsky, being a person of great wisdome, power and authority,
by the influence which he had by his dependents and pensioners in
the palatinates of Krakow, Sandomirs and Lublin, procured the commis-
sioners of these palatinates to be comissionated and instructed with the
following points:

1. To decline altogether the nominating and choosing a successor

dureing the lyfe of the present King, whom they prayed God long to
preserve.
2. That they were not so wearyed of His M[ajesty’s] government as to
think of any other so long as he lived.
3. That it was a thing never practized in this kingdome befor.
4. Yet, if that business should be pressed hard, then to desire the strict
observance of the following points:

{110v} 1. That the King and Queen with the court should remove
from the seym 3 dayes jorney.
2. That the Archb[isho]p of Gnesna should sitt and officiate as in
throno vacante et interregno242.
3. That all ambassadours, residents and agents of forreigne princes and
states should remove from the seym 3 dayes jorney.
4. That dureing the tyme of the election no message, intercourse of
letters or correspondence should be sent, kept or holden by the King,
Queen, court or any forreigne minister to or with any of the senatours,

  In case of the vacant throne and interregnum (Lat.).

242

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officers of state, commissioners of the shires, or any person belonging to,

or in the place where, the parliament was held.
{111} 5. That the votes should be free, and the resolutions here taken
irrevocable.

As these articles did not relish the court at all, so were they plausible and
thought equitable by all the commissioners in the lower house. So that
with one consent the marshall or speaker was with some deputies sent to
the house of the senatours, where the King was sitting, to represent to the
King the resolutions of the house, with a desire not to be pressed with any
thing of that nature as the thinking of a successor.
The King knowing (as being informed) very well from whence this
proceeded, had some high words with the Crowne marshall, so that the
Crowne marshall abruptly went out of the house. Yet after two or 3 dayes
absence things were reconciled, and he returned and tooke his place as
befor. So that the business of a successor was let fall at this tyme, only it
being rumored by the Republicans243 that the ambassadour of France was
makeing ffriends {111v} and bribeing the members of the upper and lower
house upon the acco[un]t of getting a successor named. So the Court, to cry
quites, caused watch narrowly the behaviour of the Ro[man] Emperours
ambassadour the Baron d’Isola, and at last catcht his hoffem-r or master of
his houshold called Ludovick de Davidt going to a senators lodging with a
considerable summe of money, and sent him prisoner to the Crowne
marshall, who gave him into my custody to be straitly guarded. But the
ambassadour complaining and denying any such practice, after 3 dayes
confinement he was released and sent to the ambassador with a comple-
ment and excuse.

The prisoners of the Moscovites taken at Czudnow, Mogilow and Bassa

or Gubari244 were convoyed, with the collours taken, in a kind of proces-

243
  Opponents of the court party.
244
  River Basia and village of Gubarevo, 30 versts distant from Mogilev (Polish:
Mohylew, Belorussian: Mahilyow), where in September and October 1660 the
Polish-Lithuanian forces of Sapieha and Czarniecki fought with the tsar’s army

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sion to the pallace where the parliament sate. The woywods, or generall and
p[rinci]p[a]ll persons, were brought in to the upper house to the presence
of the King, the collours being carryed befor and throwne downe on the
floore at the Kings feet. They were ordered to do their {112} reverence to
the King as they used to do to the Tzaar, which they refused, especially the
Kniaz Gregory Affanasseovits Koslofsky, who also openly upbraided them
with breach of the capitulation. But he was silenced and reconducted to
the quarters allotted them.
Junii 16. These collours were afterwards on Corpus Christi day caryed in
procession to the New Towne, to the church dedicated to the Blessed
Virgin, with great solemnity.
The Swedish Ambassadour Graffe Steno Bielke received satisfaction,
for albeit the peace had been allowed by a convocation of the estates the
yeare befor, yet it was now fully ratifyed and confirmed.
The newes from the Ukraina of the confederacy of the armyes was
the greatest perplexity, and Lubomirsky being disgusted, though best
able, yet contributed least to the composeing of this mischieffe, and most
because his method and counsells were not allowed nor followed. And
surely, nothing proceeded from him which did please the Court, he being
suspected to act against {112v} its interest; and even now they suspected
him to be the botefeau245 of the armyes confederacy, whereof at this tyme
he was without doubt guiltles. But if hereafter, when he was forced into
a forreigne countrey, he fomented the dissension or division betwixt the
King and army, as it is said, I cannot tell. Only I say this, which I had great
reason and occasion to know, haveing been in a manner his domestick,
and constantly present at table and many private discourses, and likewise
being very intimate with his secretaryes and chieffe servants for the space
of two yeares and a halfe, that I never heard nor could perceive any thing
from him but setled and constant resolutions to adhere to the setled con-
under Prince Yury Dolgorukov.
  Boutefeu (French) – incendiary. In the Polish Sejm Prince Jerzy Lubomirski headed
245

the party opposing the growth of royal power and French influence, and support-
ing the privileges of the nobility and alliance with Vienna. In 1664 he was ordered
into exile with loss of his titles and lands, after which he rose in rebellion against
the Polish crown and even sought help from Moscow.

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stitutions of the realme, a hatred against innovations, a great zeale for the
preservation of the libertyes and priviledges of the people. And truly, he
was by nature a great lover of vertue and vertuous persons and as great
a hater of vice, a good sojour, a great politician as to the understanding
of state effaires, but no good practicioner {113} as the event showed;
very prudent and just in all his private actions. This in short I do in verity
affirme of this noble prince.

The Prince Bogoslaw Radzivill246 went away from this parliament dis-
gusted; his former behaviour in the late warrs being objected to him in
parliament by some of the senatours, he being forbidd also to let his chap-
laine preach in his lodging, because it belonged to the church, he haveing
hired it, the lodging or house belonging to that family not being built since
its ruine by the Sweds.
The parliament not comeing to any resolution concerning the content-
ing the army and prosecuting the warr against the Moskovite, save only
the sending some deputies to the army, to perswade them to returne to
their obedience and duty, with promise of contentment at the commis-
sion which was shortly to be held at Reusse Lemberg. {113v} Wherewith
the army not being satisfyed, marched out of their quarters to a generall
rendevous by [ … ], where they choose to themselves a generall director,
and all or most of the superiour officers being absent, they choose out of
their owne number persons to command them; whereby the fairest oppor-
tunity that the Polls ever had since the beginning of the warr of reduceing
the Ukraina was lost.
The parliament breaking up befor things were throughly regulated,
and most of the nobility quitting Varso, the King, being much perplexed
with the newes comeing from the confederate army, that they were not
satisfyed with the results of the parliament, sent for most of the nobility
to consult upon the meanes to satisfy the army and bring them to their
duty. But whatever measures were taken here (the fates of Polland not
permitting it), the army remained still dissatisfyed, which afterwards
246
  Prince Bogusław Radziwiłł (1620 – 1669), the Calvinist Lithuanian magnate, fought
for the Swedes against Rzeczpospolita.

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turned to an intestine warr, like to have utterly ruined that nation.247

{114} Shortly after my comeing to Varso I received a letter from my

father, giveing me notice of the receit of myne of the third of May the
year befor, wherein I had written that hearing of his Sacred Ma[jes]ties
happy restauration, I intended to come home in hopes to be accommo-
dated under his Ma-tie. But my father informing me that the armyes were
disbanded, and that only a few trowps were continued in pay, and that the
charge of these were given to the nobility, and to such persons who had
extraordinarily deserved and suffered for his Ma-tie, and that without a
good stock it was very hard liveing in Scotland.
This deterring me from thinking of going home, I resolved not to
quite the service wherein I was, and so not to mention or seeke my passe.
Yet, haveing sollicited my pass with so great pressing earnestnes, and
haveing rejected or refused the conditions offered me in Crosna by Coll.
Lanczinsky to take a company, and which he told me he did by the gen-
eralls command; being afrayed that it might be objected to me hereafter,
I thought fitt to looke about me for other service, though not to engage
but upon good conditions. And first I had great temptations from the
Moskovitish ambassadours; for haveing by order conducted some of their
{114v} chieffe officers to them, about their ransome, as also they haveing
ransomed two officers from me, they very earnestly desired their colonells
to engage me in the Tzaars service248, to the which I seemed to give halfe
a willing eare. So they promised that I should not be longer detained as 3
yeares, one yeare whereof to serve for maior and 2 for lt. colonell. Yet did
I not accept of these offers, but only kept them in hand to have another
string for my bow; nor perhaps had ever embraced them, if another acci-
dent had not fallen out.
About the same tyme the Rom[an] Emperours Ambassadour the
Baron d’Isola gott orders from the Emperour to engage officers to levy a
regiment of horse for his service; to which purpose he engaged Lt. Coll.

  This entry is followed by two blank pages, numbered by Gordon 237 – 8.

247

  Among the tsar’s officers captured by the Poles there were several Scots headed by
248

Colonel Daniel Crawford, who persuaded Gordon to move to Russia.

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Gordon, commonly called Steelhand, who useing all the pressing reasons
he could to perswade me to engage with him, telling me of the honourable
service, the good pay, with the advantage and easines of the levyes at this
tyme, wherewith being overcome, after mature consideration I resolved
to engage.
And so wee entered into capitulation, fowre of us, to levy a regiment
of 800 horse; the persons were: Steelhand colonell, Lt. Coll. John
Watson, Maior Davidson and myself. I engaged to levy {115} two
compleet companyes, being to receive for each horseman 40 r. dollers,
the nominateing of the officers being [given to] the colonells; and I made
an apart capitulation with the colonell, being to take on officers for the
two companyes except the ruitm-r, I my self to be eldest ruitmaster, and to
have 35 r. dollers for each horseman that I should bring to muster place or
rendevows above my two companies.
One of the reasons which induced me to engage here was the great
advantage I expected by the levying; for I had notice that the Elector
of Brandeburg249 had disbanded 4 regiments of horse in Prussia, so that
many would be glad to enter into service againe, and I doubted not to
bring my companyes and more to the locality which wee were to have in
Silesia and the rendevous at the rate of 15 or 20 r. dollers a horseman,
besides the advantage I should have had by my officers, who must have
furnished so many horsemen according to their charge. I gave surety or
cation for my levy money, James Birny, Georg Gordon and James Wenton,
all merch[an]ts and indwellers in Zamoiscz250.
{115v} Being fully resolved now to engage in the service of the Roman
Emperour upon the abovesaid conditions, I thought it tyme to desire
my passe. And haveing watched a fitt opportunity, with great difficulty I

249
  Friedrich Wilhelm Hohenzollern (1620 – 1688), Elector of Brandenburg and Duke
of Prussia from 1640, known as the Great Elector. In the Northern War of
1655 – 60 he played a double game, at first backing the Swedes, then the Poles, and
as a result he got free from his vassal obligations to the Polish crown.
250
  All three of these Scots are known from Polish sources. George (Jerzy) Gordon Sr.,
one of the richest citizens in Zamość, traded in wines and spices and at that time
was in charge of collecting town duties (The Universities of Aberdeen and Europe: The
First Three Centuries. Ed. by P. Dukes (Aberdeen, 1995), p. 151).

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obtained a grant of it, the generall commanding me to cause writt it my

self, which I did in plaine termes, without any hyperbolicall or superfluous
praise or expressions, and haveing delivered it to his Excel[lency], he was
pleased to read it, and seeming not well satisfyed, gave it to the secretary
Bartholomeus Pestritsky, commanding him to writt it over, saying, “He
deserveth a better recommendation”. Two dayes thereafter, my pass being
ready and brought to the generall, I standing by, he was pleased to ask me,
if I would not resolve to stay in the service. I answering that I could not,
he gave me my pass, the exact and true copy whereof I have here inserted:

{116} Georgius Sebastianus Lubomirsky, Comes in Wisnicz et Jaroslaw,

Sacri Rom[ani] Imperii Princeps, Supremus Mareschallus Regni Poloniae
et Generalis Exercituum Dux Campestris, Generalis Minoris Poloniae,
Cracoviensis, Chmielnicen[sis], Nizinen[sis], Casimiriens[is], Olstinensis,
Pereaclaviensisque Gubernator.
Universis et singulis cujuscunque status, gradus, honoris, dignita-
tis, officii et praeeminentiae personis, hasce nostras visuris, lecturis, aut
legi audituris, humanissimam officiorum nostrorum contestationem.
Quicunque egregiis clarent factis, praesertim illi quorum generosa pectora,
militari sese efferunt laude, omnes tales a ducibus sub quorum guberna-
tione militarunt, decore gloriaque meritorum suorum debere ornari omnis
postulat aequitas. Hinc generosum Patricium Gordon natione Scotum,
nobili in suis partibus genere ortum, per menses octodecem sub nos-
tra legione dragonum legionarii hospitiorum magistri, et per duodecem
menses sub praesidiaria corporis nostri cohorte {116v} capitanei locum-
tenentis muneribus functum, dimitti a nobis postulantem, nec non alias
in partes quaerendae fortunae causa conferre se volentem, nequaquam
testimonio promeritarum laudum privandum esse arbitrati sumus.
Itaque coram omnibus et singulis, ad quorum notitiam praesentes
venturae sint, testamur eum omnibus in proeliis, conflictibus,
occasionibus quaecunque sub tempus servitiorum illius contra plurimos
Regni istius hostes, nempe, Svecos, Moschos, Cosacos acciderant
interfuisse depugnasseque strenue, et ita exactum boni simul militis et
officialis munus implevisse; ut tam sibi laudem honoremque paraverit,

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quam nomini gentis Scoticae virtute bellica ubique inclitae optime

corresponderit.
Huic ergo praenominato Patricio Gordon non tantum liberam ex more
et ritu militari cum honore dimissionem, et amplam meritorum attesta-
tionem concedimus; sed etiam pro eodem tanquam Sacrae ac Serenissimae
Regiae Majestati domino nostro clementis[simo] huicque Reipublicae ac
nobis optime, strenue fideliterque probato milite, omnes et singulos pro
{117} ea qualis cuiquam secundum suam congruit dignitatem et statum,
observantia requirimus, ut sive in Scotiam patriam suam, sive in exteras
nationes conferre se statuerit, eum cumprimis decenter, libere honorate-
que dimissum reputent, gressum, regressum, commorationemque ubivis
locorum tutam concedant, omni honore, benevolentia, ac humanitate,
complectantur, ac ad quaevis in re militari promotionis, officiorum, gradu-
umque incrementa habeant commendatum. In cujus rei fidem meliorem
praesentes liberae dimissionis commendationisque nostrae literas, extradi
illi jussimus manus nostrae subscriptione, et soliti impressione sigilli muni-
tas. Datae Varsaviae die 2 mensis Julii an[no] Domini 1661.

Georgius Lubomirsky L.S.

Bartholomaeus Pestrzecky
Suae Excellentiae Secretarius251

  “Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski, Count of Wiśnicz and Jarosław, Prince of the Holy
251

Roman Empire, Great Marshal of the Kingdom of Poland and Field Hetman of
the Army, Wojewoda of Lesser Poland, Starosta of Krakow, Chmielnik, Nieżyn,
Kazimierz, Olsztyn and Perejasław.
To all and sundry persons of whatever estate, grade, merit, dignity, office and
pre-eminence, who shall see, read or hear this letter, we present our kindest
respects. Whoever shall shine forth by their excellent feats, especially those whose
generous courage reveals itself in military fame, – all such must be decorated for
their merits with honour and glory by commanders under whose leadership they
fight, as full justice does require. Therefore, we have decided that the worthy
Patrick Gordon, by birth a Scotsman, scion of a noble family in his homeland,
who during eighteen months acted as regimental quartermaster in our Regiment
of Dragoons, and for twelve months as captain-lieutenant in the Company of
our Bodyguards, who is [now] asking to be discharged by us, and desires to leave
for other lands in order to seek his fortune there, should not by any means be
deprived of testimony of his distinguished services.

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{117v} Haveing gott my pass, I made preparation for my jorney to Prussia,

and wanted nothing but the maine business, the levy money.

The tenth of July by an express from Vienna the Rom[an] Emp[erours]

ambassadour received an order not to engage any officers or to capitu-
lat for levying of men, and if he had engaged any already, to discharge
them the handsomest way he could; whereupon he sent immediately for
Steelhand and imparted his orders to him, and I comeing thither at the
same tyme, was made acquainted therewith also. Whereat I being surpris’d
and greatly troubled, said that none was a losser by it but I, haveing disen-
gaged my self of such good service, and thereby even disobliged the best
and powerfullest prince in the countrey; that the great desire I had to have
served the Rom[an] Emp[erour] had ruin’d me, not knowing where to find
such service againe; with which the ambassadour was very much moved,

Thus, before all and sundry to whose notice these presents will come, we do
attest that in all wars, battles and campaigns during his service against many ene-
mies of this Kingdom, namely, Swedes, Muscovites and Cossacks, he has taken
part and fought bravely, and performed his duty of a good soldier as well as
officer so diligently, that he has both gained praise and honour for himself, and
proved most equal to the name of the Scottish nation, famed everywhere for
military prowess.
Therefore, we not only grant to the foresaid Patrick Gordon, according to mili-
tary law and custom, the free and honourable discharge and ample testimonial
of his merits, but also bid all and sundry respect him, insofar as it befits every
one according to their dignity and rank, as one who proved the best, brave and
faithful warrior for His Sacred and Most Serene Royal Majesty our Most Gracious
Prince, for the Republic, and for ourselves; so that, whether he decides to transfer
to Scotland, his native country, or to other lands, he would be especially regarded
as one discharged properly, freely and honourably; in all places given a safe pas-
sage, return and lodging; treated with all respect, benevolence and kindness, and
considered worthy of any promotion in military ranks and advancement in offices
and grades. In confirmation whereof we have caused give him the present letters
of free discharge and commendation, with the signature in our own hand and our
ordinary seal. Given in Warsaw on July 2nd in the year of our Lord 1661.

Jerzy Lubomirski P[lace of] S[eal]

Bartłomiej Pestrzecki
Secretary to His Excellency”
(Lat.)

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Steelhand also regrateing my condition. At last the ambassadour recol-

lecting himself, {118} profered me, if I would go with him to Vienna, he
should procure me the place of a ruitmaster or captaine of horse under a
standing regiment, or then give me a thowsand reichs dollers to beare my
expences and losses; which, seeing I could not otherwise do or better,
accepted, he offering me a writeing, I modestly refused it, telling him that
I trusted his word. He desired me also to come and stay in his lodging
where, as upon my way to Vienna, I should be defrayed; which I promised
to do how soone I had set my business in order.
Two dayes thereafter, I comeing to wait upon the ambassadour, he
told me that he had found a way to make me deserving to the Rom[an]
Emperour. Which was, that haveing letters and business of great concern-
ment, which he must dispatch very soone, he would entrust me with these
dispatches, as being well acquainted w[i]t[h] the countrey and haveing such
an ample {118v} pass, whereby I should be knowne at court and have a
pretension upon the acco[un]t of service. Whereof I was glad and prom-
ised to performe it with all care, fidelity and diligence.
In the meane tyme many of my acquaintances and ffriends, hearing of
my determination to engage in the Ro[man] Emperours service without
levying, and of the conditions proffered me, began seriously to diswade
me from it, telling me that a peace being lyke to be concluded betwixt the
Rom[an] Emperour and the Turkes, soldiers of fortune, unless of great
merit and long standing in that service, would be hardly admitted and litle
regarded; that if at last I should obtaine a company in a standing regiment,
the officers in such regiments, at least the captaines, being for the most part
men of great birth and rents, or well stocked and acquainted with the wayes
of that countrey, where quarters, accidences and shifts are the greatest
part of their subsistance, I should not be able {119} to beare out a equall
part with them without running my self in debt, or makeing unusuall and
not allowable shifts; that I might dance attendance long enough at court
befor I could be accommodated, and albeit in the tyme of my waiting for a
charge I might gett some allowance for a subsistance, which would even be
very difficult to obtaine, yet would it come farr short of what I should be
obliged to spend there; that by putting my self in a garbe fitt for appearing

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at court and conversing with persons of quality, I should soone spend the
small stock I had; as for the 1,000 r[eichs] dollers promised me, I might
possibly wait for that some tyme too and spend the most part of it befor I
should gett from thence; and so at last, being dismounted and ill provided
of money, and without ffriends or acquaintance in any other place, in a
tyme of peace, a lyvelyhood or honourable charge would be very difficult
to gett.
These and many other things considering, I began to waver in my
resolution, and at last found my self very apprehensive of the {119v}
fors[ai]d reasons and convinced. So that I resolved not to go to Vienna, to
the which the great sollicitations and promises of the Russe Ambassadour
Zamiaty Fiodorovitz Leontiuf252 and Colonell Crawfuird with others con-
tributed very much. The only difficulty was how to come handsomely
of from the Ambassadour d’Isola, for albeit I should have been very
welcome againe to the Crowne and felt marshall, yet was I ashamed and
feared to have it objected to me hereafter. And also, albeit I could have
been accommodated in the Crowne or Littawish army with a charge to my
contentment, yet durst I not for fear of offending such a prince, who had
been so gracious to me and who was of so great power, and whom I had
already but too much offended by solliciting for my pass, and quitting the
service. So, haveing made sure with the Russe ambassadour, and let of the
most of my servants, I went to the Rom[an] Emperours ambassadour and
desired to {120} know how long it would be befor his dispatches would
be ready. He told me that it would be eight dayes. Then I told him that I
had all my best things lying in Thorun, 30 miles from hence, and that he
would permitt me to go and fetch them, promiseing to returne precisely
against that tyme; which he granting and desireing me not to delay nor
disapoint him, I tooke my leave.
I had nothing now to do but to prepare for my jorney. So, haveing
gott Colonell Crawfuird and Capt. Meneses253 ready, I tooke leave of my

252
  Zamiata Fiodorovich Leontiev (†1670), Russian envoy to Poland, Duma nobleman
from 1662.
253
  Paul Menzies (1637 – 1694), like Gordon, sprang from an old Roman Catholic fam-
ily in North-Eastern Scotland, Menzies of Pitfodels, and was distantly related to

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ffriends; and to make clear with the Ro[man] Emp[erours] ambassadour,

I left 2 letters by a trusty ffriend, one dated three dayes befor the tyme
I had promised to returne, giveing him notice that upon my comeing to
Thorun I was fallen into a heavy sicknesse, being a hott feaver, so that I
could not be able to come at the appointed tyme, promising how soone
I were recovered to make all possible hast; the letter not writt by my
self, but subscrived. The other letter, dated a fortnight thereafter from
the same place, {120v} informing his Exc[ellency] that the violence of
sickness was relented, but that I was taken with a sort of a quotidian
feaver and want of appetite, which had weakened me so that I was out
of hopes of being able to travel in hast, makeing a great regrait, that by
this misfortune I had lost the honour which I thought to have had to
serve his Imperiall Majesty, and such expressions more.

July 24 st.n. Haveing taken my leave of ffriends, I crossed the r. Vistula and
lodged in the Prague all night. And the next morning, after breakfast and
a merry cup with the ffriends, who had
25. convoyed us, wee began our
jorney. Coll. Crawfuird who, being a prisoner to the Colonell Lord Harry
Gordon, was not only maintained by him at a plentifull table in Varso, but
dismissed ransome free, and gave him a pass for a captaine of horse. Capt.
Pawl Menezes had a pass for a captaine of foot. The colonell had a serv-
ant, and I fowre, so that wee were in company but eight {121} persons, I
acting the chieffest by the way.

the Diary’s author (his mother was Lady Anne Gordon, daughter of the Earl of
Sutherland). Menzies studied at the Catholic Scots College of Douai in Flanders,
then joined the Polish army. In 1661 (according to Foy de la Neuville, having
killed a Lithuanian colonel in a duel) he moved to Russia with Gordon, whose
close friend he became. In 1672 Major Menzies was sent by the tsar to Berlin,
Dresden, Vienna, Venice and Rome to negotiate an alliance against the Turks;
although this goal was not achieved, he revealed great diplomatic skill and com-
plete loyalty to Russia, was promoted to colonel and possibly became the first
foreign tutor to young Tsarevich Peter. Later Menzies with his regiment fought
in the Chigirin and Crimean campaigns. He died a major general in Moscow and
was honoured by Tsar Peter with a remarkably grand burial. See N.V. Charykov,
Posol’stvo v Rim i sluzhba v Moskve Pavla Meneziya (St. Petersburg, 1906).

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The first night wee lodged in a village 5 miles from Varso and
July 26. the
next day afternoone came to Vengrova , which is 12 miles from Varso,
254

where wee lodged and stayed the next day, exspecting Andrew Burnet255
and W-m Guild, who had promised to go with me.
28. Wee went from hence, and crossing the river Bug at a ruined towne
called Ostrow, wee came to Tikoczine, where a strong castle by the river
Narew. Here is also a Jewish sinagogue and very many Jewes. From thence
wee went downe by the river syde, and crossing the said river at Wizna, wee
lodged there. Wee crossed thereafter the r[ivule]t Leck256, where the Polls
and Tartars beat the Sweds and Brandeb[urgers] and tooke Duke Bogoslaw
Radzivill prisoner. And comeing to Raygrod, wee dined there, then passing
by Augustova, Bakalarzova and Philippova, where the same Polls and
Tartars were 8 dayes thereafter beat by the Sweds and Brandeb[urgers], and
Duke Radzivill recovered. This was done an[no] Domini 1656, in 7-ber.257
{121v} Being come to Znin, wee lodged there all night and were merry
with Capt. Portes and Ensigne Martin.
Wee crossed the river Niemen at Vilsk258, where wee lodged all night,
and the next day to Kiadany259. This towne belongeth to the family of the
Radzivills, where is the publick exercize of the Protestant religion, and
because of that many Scotsmen here liveing, by one whereof wee lodged;
and being welcomed by some of our countreymen with a hearty cup of
strong meade, it did so enflame my blood that the same night a hott feaver

254
  Węgrów.
255
  The Scot Andrew Burnet, Gordon’s comrade-in-arms, followed him to Russia in
1661. In the second Chigirin campaign, on 14 August 1678, Colonel Burnet
received several wounds by the Dnieper during Russian retreat from the Ottoman
forces (N.V. Charykov, op. cit., pp. 354, 367).
256
  Ełk.
257
  See Diary, I, pp. 129 – 30, where these events are dated October 1656.
258
  Vilkija, Lithuania (Polish: Wilki).
259
  Kėdainiai, Lithuania (Polish: Kiejdany). At this period, under the protection of the
Calvinist Princes Radziwiłł, the local community of Scots reached about 300.
According to the plan of 1661, over half of the houses in the town’s main square
belonged to Scots or their descendants, including one Alexander Gordon. I owe
this information to Rimantas Žirgulis.

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seized me. The next day I caused blood to be let of the median. Towards
night I gott ease and slept indifferent well.
The next day, being Sunday, I went to church, where the feaver againe
seized me, so that I was not able to heare out the devotion, and with much
ado gott to my lodging. The feaver continued very violent with a delirium.
On Tuesday by the help of a glister I gott ease. On Wednesday I kept bed
till noone and then rose. On Thursday wee dined by Maior Karstares, were
very kindly entertained and not pressed with drinking.
{122} On Fridday, haveing bought a koless260 to sitt in, wee tooke
jorney and lodged in a village a mile and a halfe from Kiadany. In the
morning Maior Karstares sent a note with a long gunne to me, desire-
ing to have my tent, which I sent to him. Wee dined in a towne called
Novy Miasto, and the next day to Lenkova, where was a market day.
Wee dined, and setting forward, came to Gemelly, the last towne of
Samogitia, where wee lodged; and came the next day to Bawsky, a towne
belonging to the Duke of Churland261, where finding Dutch people and
good beer, wee made merry, and tooke a guide to shew us over the river
[ … ]. Without the towne at the confluence of the two rivers, Mussa and
[ … ], is a castle well scituate and fortifyed for a siege. Wee lodged in a
krue, where wee had of the same Bawskyes beer and made merry among
our selves.
The next day wee rose early, dined by the way, and crossing the river
Dwina, came to Riga and tooke up our lodging in the suburb without
the Sand Port. Where hearing {122v} that the Generall Duglas262 was
gone but two or three [hours] befor towards Derpt263, and that he was
260
  Kolasa (Polish) – carriage.
261
  Duke Jakob Kettler of Courland (1610 – 1682; ruled from 1642), though vassal of
the Polish crown, tried to stay neutral during the war against Sweden. In 1658 he
was captured by the Swedes, but released after the Peace of Oliwa.
262
  Robert Douglas (1611 – 1662), like his protégé Patrick Gordon, was “a younger son
of a younger brother of a younger house” in Scotland (Douglas of Whittingham).
He served the Swedish crown since 1631, rising to become Count of Skenninge
and, in 1657, field marshal. In 1656 – 7 Gordon served as trooper in Douglas’s
“Life Company” of horse, which he helped to recruit, and enjoyed the favour of
his commander.
263
  Modern Tartu, Estonia (German: Dorpat or Dörpt).

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to lodge two miles from Riga, being very desirous to have seen him and
to ask his advice concerning my going to Russeland, for I was upon the
repenting the whole way from Varschaw, as Capt. Menezes also; so that,
if he had but diswaded me (which he was sure to do), I was resolved
not to go further, unles it had been to put Colonell Crawfuird in a sure
place, and then returne. But to my great misfortune I could not gett for
any money horses to hire, and my owne being weary, all the horses being
taken up for those who convoyed the generall, and who did not returne
till evening. So that, being dissappointed of such an occasion of comeing
of handsomely, I was very sorry, and so went into the towne to looke
out for acquaintance.
Comeing to the market place, I did meet with my old comorades and
ffriends Alex-r Landells and Walter Airth264, with whom I went to a taverne
and tooke a glass of wine, to whom I revealed my intentions. {123} These
being out [of] service themselve[s], haveing been lately disbanded by the
Sweds, were in a poor condition and willing to engage any where, and told
me that no service was to be had among the Sweds, and besides that it was
so poore, they haveing but pittyfull allowances, that it was not worth the
seeking; that they heard that the Moskovites pay, though not great, was
duly payed, and that officers were soone advanced to high charges; that
many of our countreymen of great quality were there, and some gone
thither lately; that they themselves with many others of our countreymen
and strangers were resolving to go thither, not knowing how (in such a
conjuncture of tyme when a generall peace was concluded by most, and
shortly exspected by others) to do better. So that the considerations of a
certaine (at least) lyvelyhood, preferment, good company, and my former
promises and engagements confirmed me in my resolution to go to Mosko.
So, haveing {123v} promised to writt to them from the first garrison of the
Moskovites, wee parted.

  Alexander Landells, Gordon’s gallant comrade-in-arms with Count Douglas’s “Life

264

Company”, followed him to Russia in 1661, became his lieutenant colonel and
fell in the heroic defence of Chigirin against the Turks in 1678. Gordon, always
sparing in praise, called him “a very good and stout souldier”. Walter Airth also
served in Russia from 1661 and died there as major in 1678.

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Haveing conferred with Colonell Crawfuird about the engageing of

some good officers in the Tzaars service, I went the next day into the
towne againe, and meeting with the same ffriends againe, at a hearty morn-
ing draught I engaged them further, promiseing each of them a degree of
preferment, and that they should bespeake so many as they could of the
charges of capt-s, leivtennants and ensignies.
Haveing hired a fuirman with two horses to Kokenhausen265, more upon
the acco-t of showing us the way as of any need wee had of him, haveing
horses of our owne enough to serve our turne, wee went from Riga about
noone, rideing along by the river Dwina, and lodged in a village about 4
miles from Riga. Which Riga is distant from Revel266 50 miles, from Derpt
30, from Vilna267 40, {124} from Konigsberg in Prussia 60 miles; a strong
and well fortifyed towne.
Wee rose early and towards evening came to Kokenhausen, a towne
and castle scituate by the river Dwina on a high rocky ground. Herein
was a garrison of the Moskovites. I seeing the streets so dirty and every
where such nastines, the people so morose, and the houses so decayed
and wast, I presaged, ex ungue leonem268, a great change. For considering
that I was come from a countrey pleasant, citties well inhabited, neat and
cleanly, and a people generally well bred, courteous and civill, I was much
troubled. The governour here was called Basilius Volshinsky269; here was
also a Dutch colonell called John Meves.
The next day wee dined at a christening feast with the governour by a
capt. called John von Arnheim, and haveing gott some post horses, after-
noone wee went from thence and lodged in the fields.
{124v} Wee tooke jorney early and rode through a pleasant but depop-
265
  Koknese, Latvia (German: Kokenhusen). This town was taken by the tsar’s forces
in August 1656 and renamed Tsarevichev Dimitriev Gorod, but the Treaty of
Cardis, signed on 21 June (1 July) 1661, on the eve of Gordon’s arrival, stipulated
its return to Sweden along with other Russian conquests in Livonia.
266
  Tallinn, Estonia (German: Reval).
267
  Vilnius, Lithuania (Polish: Wilno).
268
  “By the claw the lion [is revealed]” (Lat.). Some believed that the great Greek sculp-
tor Phidias (5th century BC), even if he had never seen a lion, could have known
what it looked like by its claw (Lucian, Hermotimus, 54, 12).
269
  Vasily Volzhinsky.

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ulated countrey, and lodged in the fields. Here did overtake us Captaine
Smith and Lt. John Muris with their wiwes, who were come from Riga and
going for Mosko to serve. They had gott post horses, but scarse to serve
their turne, and were in a very poor condition. Wee were glad of their
company, and so jogged on together.
Wee came to a ruined place called Marienburg270. Here is a castle
within a lake, wherein a Russe garrison. Wee went to wiew the place, but
non was permitted to enter the castle but the colonell. The governour
sent us some small provisions and a sort of small drink called quass271.
Being come to Niewenhausen272, wee found the Sweds takeing pos-
session of the barneyards and corne which {125} was standing in the
fields, for by the treaty of peace or truce this and the former two places,
which they had taken in Liefland, were to be restored to the Sweds. In
Kockenhausen I had seen some great cannon, which the Moskovites had
left there when they retired from Riga and which by the treaty the Sweds
were to furnish horses to bring to Plesko273.
Haveing lodged by a barneyard at Niewhausen, the next morning, about
3 verst274 from thence, wee passed the borders and came to Petshure275, a
ruined towne, where a monastery environed with a stone wall. This place
is called Petshure of the subterranean caves. Wee lodged in a village not
farr from the lake Peipus276, where I sold my passeganger for 9 rubles cop-
per money, imageining each ruble to be two reichs dollers277. He cost me
30 r. dollers in Varso, and that from a good ffriend, but was
{125v} Aug[ust]. growne lame
by the way, and I could not gett any body to cure him.
270
  Alūksne, Latvia.
271
  Kvas (Russian) – fermented drink, usually made from rye bread.
272
  Vastseliina, Estonia (German: Neuhausen).
273
  Pskov.
274
  Versta – old Russian unit of length. At this period it amounted to 700 sazhen (1.49
km), as against the 500 sazhen (1.06 km) it became in the reign of Peter the Great.
275
  Pechory, Russia.
276
  Chudskoye Ozero (Russian), Peipsi Järv (Estonian).
277
  This was the “official exchange rate” of the Russian government in the mid-seven-
teenth century, but difficulties of the war period and failed attempts at monetary
reform (see below) led to a sharp fall of the ruble.

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About midday wee had a sight of Plesko or Opsko, which had a glorious
show, being environed with a stone wall with many towers. Here are many
churches and monasteries, some whereof have three, some 5 steeples or
towers, whereon are round globes of 6, 8 or 10 fathomes circumference,
which being covered with white iron or plates, and thereon great crosses
covered with the same, make a great and pleasant show. One of these
globes, being the biggest, is overgilt.
This citty was a free principality in former tymes, and had suffered
many changes, untill subdued by Tzaar Ivan Vasiliovits an[no] Domini
1509278, who sent most of the p[rinci]p[a]ll inhabitants to Mosko and
returned colonies of Moskovites in their places. It hath since rebelled
diverse tymes, and as often reduced. It hath held out diverse sieges of the
Sweds and Polls. It had freedome of coyning
{126} Aug[ust]. of money. The Sweds
and Lubeckers have their houses of traffick without the towne, on the
other side of the river Velika Reka, or the Great River, which some versts
below the towne falleth into the lake Peipus, and so to Narva, below which
it emptyeth it self into the sea. This citty is distant from Riga and Veliky
Luky 60 Polonian miles, and from Great Novogrod 36.
Here I perceived the low rate of the copper money279, and finding
every thing so deare, and the extraordinary morosenes of the people, I
was almost at my wits end with vexation.
Here one W-m Hay, who was lately come from Scotland, came to us
and made one of our company to Mosco.
Haveing lodged in the towne, which stunk with nastines, and was no
wise answerable to the glorious show it hath afarr of and our expectation,

278
  Gordon is inaccurate here. Pskov was annexed to Muscovy by Grand Duke Vasily
III Ivanovich in January 1510.
279
  As soon as he came to Russia, Gordon felt the impact of the drastic but ill-advised
monetary reform, which he was to rue very often. Due to acute shortage of
funds, especially because of the costly war against Poland-Lithuania, from 1655
the tsar’s government began a massive emission of copper coins, declared equal
to silver. This led to ubiquitous counterfeiting, disappearance of silver from turn-
over, soaring prices and the Moscow “Copper Riot” in 1662, of which Gordon
became witness.

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wee breakfasted with Madam Hayes280, who furnished us also with plenty
of provisions upon
{126v} Aug[ust]. the way. Wee tooke jorney through a pleasant wooddy
countrey, the particular description whereof I thought not worthy of my
paines, nor had the patience, being out of conceit with the people, to take
notice of the places of their habitations. Being come to a large village
called Solnitsa281, sending our horses by land, wee went in boats downe the
river Solona282 into the lake Ilmin and so to Novogrod.
The lake Ilmin is 18 Polonian miles or 90 verst long and 12 miles or
60 verst broad, receiveth about 70 small rivers and letteth out one called
Volcha283, which running by Novogrod falleth in the lake Ladoga 180 verst
or 36 Pol[onian] miles below the citty. The p[rinci]p[a]ll rivers, which fall
into this lake, are Solona, Lowat, Mpsiaga284 etc.
The towne of Novogrod, called the Great, haveing been one of the
three greatest mart cittyes of Europe, giveth
{127} Aug[ust]. name to a large dukedome
and the greatest of all Russia, where Rurick, from whom all the Russian
princes and dukes draw their originall, did reigne. It is distant from Mosko
105 Polonian miles or 125285 versts, from Plesko 36, and from Veliky Luky
and Narew286 40 miles.
An[no] Domini 1570 Tzaar Johannes Basilides began a warr with the
Novogrodians, which lasted 7 yeares, when haveing beat their forces at
the river Solona, he forced them to submitt and placed a governour over
them. But thinking that he had not such ane absolute power over them as
he would, by the meanes of Theophilus the Archb[isho]p he gott entrance
into the towne, where what cruelty he used to the citizens and to the
archb-p himself, I referr to those who have written at large thereof, as also

280
  Although their surnames are not identically rendered by the author, this lady was
perhaps related to the above-mentioned Scot.
281
  Evidently, Sol’tsy.
282
  Shelon’.
283
  Volkhov.
284
  Mshaga.
285
  An obvious slip: the distance is much longer.
286
  Narva.

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concerning their idoll Perun, from whence the Perunsky monastery hath
its denomination.287
{127v} Being provided with a large boat, wee went up the river Msta
to Brunits288 25 verst, where by an order from the governour of Novogrod,
the Boyar Kniaz Ivan Borisovits Repenin289 wee had ten post horses given
us, which were changed at diverse stages, and so my horses were spared.
Wee crossed the river Volga at Twere290, which giveth name to a great tract
of land with the title of duke, and had in former tymes dukes of its owne,
till of late, when it as well as other were swallowed up by the Great Duke
of Mosko. It is distant from Mosko 36 miles.

Sept-r 2 st[ilo] vet[eri]. Wee came to Mosko and hired a lodging in the
Slabod291 or village where the strangers live.

287
  The author mixes up different historical events. Novgorodian lands became part of
Muscovy in 1478, seven years after the army of Grand Duke Ivan III defeated the
Novgorod host on River Shelon’; Feofil, Archbishop of Novgorod, was deprived
of his dignity and confined in Moscow. In 1570 at the behest of Tsar Ivan IV
the Terrible, who suspected treason in Novgorod, the city was subjected to total
slaughter and ravage. Perynsky Monastery was indeed founded on the site of the
pagan shrine with Perun’s idol, where Volkhov River flows out of Lake Il’men’.
Gordon’s information seems to be based on the famous work by Baron Siegmund
von Herberstein (Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii), to which this fragment is
close. Besides, the Scot must have known the equally celebrated book of Adam
Olearius (Beschreibung der muscowitischen und persischen Reise), which contains a similar
description with reference to Herberstein (Bk. II, ch. 11). Both of these went
through several editions and were translated into other languages.
288
  Bronnitsa.
289
  Prince I.B. Repnin-Obolensky (ca.1615 – 1697), boyar from 1659, voyevoda of
Novgorod in 1661 – 1665, butler (dvoretsky) of the tsar’s court, and head of the
Siberian Office (prikaz) from 1679.
290
  Tver’.
291
  New Foreign suburb or quarter (Novaya Inozemskaya, or Nemetskaya, sloboda), founded
in 1652 on the right bank of the Yauza River near Moscow as a settlement for
non-Orthodox immigrants from Western Europe. It became Gordon’s perma-
nent home and the cradle of new westernized Russia under Peter the Great. The
frequently used English tag “German suburb” is incorrect, because in old Russian
nemtsy meant not just the Germans, but also members of many other European
nations.

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5. Wee were admitted to kiss his Tzarsky Ma[jes]ties hand at

Columinsko292, a countrey house of the Tzaars 7 verst from Mosko below
by the river of the same name. The Tzaar was pleased to thank me for
haveing been kind to his subjects who were {128} prisoners in Polland,
and it was told me that I should have his Ma-ties grace or favour, wher-
eon I might rely.
7. In the morning the Boyar Elia Danielovitz Miloslavsky, who being
the Tzars father in law had the command of the Stranger Office293,
ordered me to come in the afternoone to a field without the citty called
the Czartoly294, and to bring the other officers who came in with me
along. Being come into the field, wee found the boyar there befor us,
who ordered us to take up pikes and musquets (being there ready) and
show how wee could handle our armes. Wherewith being surprized, I
told him that if I had knowne of this, I should have brought forth one
of my boyes, who perhaps could handle armes better as I my self, add-
ing that it was the least part of an officer to know how to handle armes,
conduct being the most materiall. Whereat he takeing me up short, told
me that the best colonells comeing into this countrey must {128v} do
so, to which I replyed, “Seing it is the fashion, I am content”. And so,
haveing handled the pike and musket with all their postures to his great
satisfaction, I returned.
9. On Moonday it was ordered that I should be enrolled for maior,
Pawl Menezes for captaine, W-m Hay for lievtennant and John Hamilton
for ensignie, to foot under the regiment of Colonell Daniell Crawfuird,
and a gratuity for our comeing in or welcome to the countrey, being
to me 25 rubles in money and as much in sables, 4 ells of cloth and 8

292
  Kolomenskoye, residence of the tsars south of Moscow, now part of the city.
293
  This Office (Inozemsky prikaz) dealt with foreigners in the tsar’s service as well as
“regiments of foreign order” – regular army units of horse, dragoons and foot
soldiers organised and armed along Western lines. Ilya Danilovich Miloslavsky
(†1668), boyar from 1648, was the father of Tsaritsa Maria Ilyinichna, first wife
of Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich; having risen to power through this marriage, he had
great weight in Russian affairs of state. He headed Inozemsky prikaz from 1648 to
1665.
294
  Chertolye.

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ells of damask295; the rest accordingly, and our monthly pay equall with
others of these charges.

But the chancellour296, being a most corrupt fellow, delayed us from

day to day in exspectation of a bribe, which is not only usuall here, but as
they think due. Whereof I haveing no information, after expostulateing
with him twice or thrice, and receiving no satisfactory answers, I went
to the boyar and complained; who with {129} a light check ordered him
againe, which incensing the diack more, he delayed us still. But when after
a second complaint and order wee received no satisfaction, I went a third
tyme to the boyar and very confidently told him I knew not whither he or
the diack had the greatest power, seing he did not obey his so many orders.
Whereat the boyar being vexed, caused stopp his coach (he being on his
way out of towne to his countrey house) and caused call the diack, whom
being come, he tooke by the beard and shak’d him 3 or 4 tymes, telling
him, if I complained againe, he would cause knute297 him.
The boyar being gone, the diack came to me and began to scold, and
I without any respect (whereof they gett but too much here) payed him
home in his owne coyne, telling him that I cared not whither they gave me
any thing or no, if they would but permitt me to go out of the countrey
againe. With which resolution I went to the Slabod and now began in good
earnest to consider how I might ridd my self of this countrey, so farr
{129v} Sept-r. short

295
  The first document of the author’s Russian service survives today, being the petition
by “Major Patricius Gordon” and his companions, “foreigners of the Scottish
land”, anent their reward for coming to Muscovy, with the inscription: “In the
year 170 [1661] on September 7th the [Great] Sovereign has granted and ordered
to write out” (Russian State Archive of Military History (RGVIA), F. 495, op. 1,
№ 27, fols. 3 – 3 v.). I am grateful to А.V. Каnunnikov who discovered this source.
296
  Below Gordon switches to the Russian term dyak, but never calls his adversary by
name. At this time there were two dyaks in Inozemsky prikaz, Mikhail Kuzovlev and
Yefim Prokofiev; probably the former is meant (S.К. Bogoyavlensky, Prikaznye
sudyi XVII v. (Мoscow, 1946), pp. 56, 265, 288).
297
  Knut (Russian) – whip. This must be one of the earliest instances of the verb “to
knout” in English or Scots usage. It by far predates the year 1716 given by
Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

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of my exspectation and disagreeing with my humour. For haveing served

in such a countrey and amongst such people, where strangers had great
respect and were in as great reputation and even more trust as the natives
themselves; and where a free passage for all deserving persons lay open
to all honours military and civill; and where in short tyme by good hus-
bandry and industry an estate might be gained; and in marrying no scruple
or difference was made betwixt the natives and strangers. Whereby many
have attained to great fortunes, governments and other honourable and
profitable commands, as indigenation298 also being usually conferred on
well qualifyed and deserving persons; where a dejected countenance or
submissive behaviour is noted for cowardice and faint-heartednes, and a
confident, majestick, yet unaffected comportment for virtuous generos-
ity; the peoples high mindednes being accompanied and qualifyed with
courteousnes and affability, wherein meeting with the lyke humours they
contend {130} for transcendency.
Whereas [here], on the contrary, I perceived strangers to be looked
upon as a company of hirelings and at the best (as they say of women) but
necessaria mala299; no honours or degrees of preferment to be exspected here
but military, and that with a limited command, in the attaining whereof a
good mediator or mediatrix and a piece of money or other bribe is more
availeable as the merit or sufficiency of the person; a faint heart under
faire plumes and a cuckoe in gay cloths being as ordinary here as a coun-
terfeited or painted visage; no marrying with the natives, strangers being
looked upon by the best sort as scarcely Christians, and by the plebeyans as
meer pagans; no indigenation without ejeration of the former religion and
embraceing theirs; the people being morose, avaricious, niggard, deceit-
full, false, insolent and tirrannous, where they have command, and being
under command, submissive and even slavish, sloven and base, {130v}
and yet overweening and valuing themselves above all other nations.
And the worst of all, the pay small and in a base copper coyne, which
passed at 4 to one of silver, so that I foresaw an impossibility of subsist-
298
  Indygenat (Polish) – the rights and privileges of citizenship and noble status granted
to a foreigner by the crown.
299
  Necessary evil (Lat.).

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ance, let be of enriching my self, as I was made beleeve I should befor I

came from Polland. These and many other reasons were but too sufficient
to setle my self for disengageing my self of this place. The only diffi-
culty was how to attaine to it, which troubled me very much, every one
of whom I asked advice alleadging it impossible. However, I resolved to
try and not to take any of their money, albeit I had gotten at Plesko and
Novogrod some for expences on the way.
Hearing that the boyar was to stay a weeke out of the citty, I resolved
not to go to the Prikase300 untill he should returne, and then give up a
petition or request for my dismission, bringing in for my reasons that the
Ambassadour Zamiaty Fiodorovits {131} Leontiuf, with whom I capitu-
lated in Polland, had promised me to be payed in silver or other equivalent
coine, which I found farr otherwise now, and that I found the constitution
of my body not agreeable with this climate. But the diack, getting notice
of my intentions and fearing the wrath of the boyar at his returne, colluded
with my colonell to entice me into the towne. So that, I being come one
morning to pay my respects to my colonell, he desired me to accompany
him to the towne, which after some tergiversation I did, and being come
and takeing a walke on the piazzo301, a writer with a couple of catchpoles
with him came to me and desired me to come into the Prikase, which I refu-
seing, he told me that he had order to force me if I would not come fairely.
Being come into, the chieffe writer Tichon Fiodorovits Motiakin
received me very courteously, desireing me to sitt downe, and then after
some very civill {131v} discourse presented me with orders to diverse
Offices for money, sables, damask and cloth for me and those who came
with me. Which I absolutely refused, telling him that I would stay untill the
boyar returned, with whom I hoped to prevaile and procure my dismission
out of the countrey. This writer, being a courteous person (a rare thing
here), began to reason with me very civilly, showing me many reasons to
divert me from such resolutions. And haveing sent for my colonell (who
was not farr to seeke), they both tooke me aside and among other reasons
300
  Prikaz (Russian) – office responsible for some branch of central government, of
which there were about 40 at this period.
301
  Piazza (Italian) – square.

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told me that it would be my ruine to desire out of the countrey, because

the Russe would presume that, comeing from such a countrey with which
they were in open warr, and being a Roman Catholick, I was come to spy
out their countrey only and then returne; and that if I mentioned any such
thing, they would not only not dismiss me, but send me to Siberia or some
remote place, and that they would never trust me thereafter. This indeed
did startle me, considering the base and suspicious nature of the people;
so that with great reluctancy I {132} consented to accept of the orders for
our comeing in to the countrey.

Sept-r 17. I gott orders to receive from a Russe 700 men who were to
be in our regiment, being runnaway sojours out of severall regiments
and fetch’d back from diverse places. Haveing received these, I marched
through the Slaboda of the strangers to Crasna Cella302, where wee gott our
quarters, and exercized these souldiers twice a day in faire weather.

20. I received money, 25 rubles for my welcome, and the next day sables,
and two dayes thereafter damask and cloth.

25. I received a months meanes in cursed copper money, as did these who
came along with me.
27. About 30 officers, most whereof I had bespoke in Riga, came to
Mosko, most of them being our countreymen, as Walter Airth, W-m Guild,
Georg Keith, Andrew Burnet, Andrew Calderwood, Robert Stuart303 and
others; most whereof were enrolled in our regiment.

{132v} Oct-r. I marched by order into the utmost great towne and to the
Slaboda Zagrodniky304, and tooke up my quarters.
At the first some contentions did fall out betwixt the officers and
sojours with the rich burgesses, who would not admitt them into their

302
  Krasnoye Selo.
303
  Among these Scottish officers Airth, Guild and, possibly, Keith and Stuart were
Gordon’s comrades-in-arms already from the days of his Swedish service.
304
  Apparently, Zemlianoy gorod (“Earthen town”) and Ogorodnaya sloboda.

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houses. Amongst the rest a merchant, by whom my quarters were taken

up, whilst my servants were cleansing the inner roome, he breake downe
the oven in the utter-roome, which served to warme both, so that I was
forced to go to another quarter. But to teach him better manners, I sent
the profos305 to quarter by him with 20 prisoners and a corporalship of
sojours, who by connivence did grievously plague him a weeke, and it
cost him near a 100 dollers, befor he could procure an order out of the
right Office to have them removed, and was well laught at besides for his
uncivility and obstinacy.

Dureing my abode here two notable passages happened, which fol-

low. The first: {133} The souldiers, takeing a liberty to keep brandy for
their owne uses and sometimes to sell, which being prejudiciall to his
Ma[jes]ties revenues (the profitt of all strong liquor brewed or made in his
countrey comeing into his treasure), it is not only strictly forbidden to all
to sell any by smalls, but the breach hereof most severely punished; spyes
and searchers being every where, who getting notice of the selling of any
such liquor, delate and immediately give notice to the Office.
On a Sunday afternoone, whilst I was in the Slaboda of the strangers, a
writer with 20 or 30 streltsees306 comeing to a house where the sojours had
brandy, the doore being shutt, befor they gott entrance the sojours carryed
their brandy back into the garden. So that after a narrow search, and noth-
ing found, the sojours pretending themselves affronted, began to convoy
the writer with the streltsees rudely out of doores; who being come out into
the streets, called their comorades to help, and breake
{133v} No[vembe]r. into the house againe and into the garden, where
they found the brandy, which they tooke, and some souldiers with it. But
more souldiers comeing upon the tumult, not only tooke back the sould-
iers and brandy, but falling by the eares with the streltsees drove them to the
citty gates, where being recruited with others, who lived there, they drove
the souldiers back againe. By this tyme the partyes encreased, the streltsees
305
  Profos (German) – in some old European armies, NCO whose duties included guard-
ing the prisoners.
306
  Strel’tsy – Russian infantrymen of the 16th and 17th centuries.

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being about 700 and the sojours about 80, but the street being narrow, and
the sojours more desperate and resolute, drove the streltsees into the gates
of the white wall307; at which tyme 600 streltsees, comeing from the maine
guard of the castle, cut of the passage of those who were gott within the
gates and tooke 27 of them, who after examination the next day were beat
with the knute and sent to Siberia.

The next: A Russe captaine called Affonasse Constantino. Spiridonuf308,

havein[g] commanded these souldiers befor wee received them {134} and
being now in the regiment, and a crafty fellow, had acquired and assumed
such authority among and over the sojours, that he acted many things
inconsisting with command. I told and forbidd him many tymes, but all
would not help. I complained to the colonell, who being a person unwill-
ing to be troubled with any business, sligh[t]ed it. Wherewith I being not
well satisfyed, and this captaine haveing one night entrapped some sould-
iers playing at cards, he not only tooke all the money which they had at
play, but imprisoned them by the provost marshall untill they gave him a
great deale more, in all about 60 rubles, and then let them go; and all this
without my knowledge, which ought not to be, I haveing the chieffe com-
mand. I being advertised of this the next day, could not containe my self,
but sent for him in the evening, and haveing dispatched the guard and my
servants, all except one, out of the way, he being come into the roome, I
began to expostulate with [him], telling him that I could not suffer such
abuses any
{134v} No[vembe]r. longer and that I would break his neck one
tyme or another. Whereat he beginning to storme, I gott him by the
head and flinging him downe, with a fresh, short, oaken cudgell I so
belaboured his back and sides that he was scarce able to rise, and then
promiseing him ten tymes more, if he played such tricks hereafter, I
packed him out of doores.
He went the next day and complained to the colonell, who promised
to make inquisition and give satisfaction; but I denying all, according to
  Wall of the “White town” (Bely gorod), central part of Moscow.
307

  Afanasy Konstantinovich Spiridonov.

308

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the fashion of this countrey, where there are no witnesses, which upon his
complaint to the boyar and in the Office I did also. So that, he seeing the
boyar to befriend me as one lately come and unacquainted with the fash-
ions of the countrey, desisted from his suite and made meanes to be gone
from the regiment, which was that I wished and aimed at.

Whilst I was here, I was at two weddings in the Slabod of the strangers:
the one, Ruitm-r Ryter marryed to the widdow {135} of Lt. Coll. Thomas
Menezes, who being wounded by Czudnow dyed there; the other, Capt.
Lidert Lome marryed to [ … ] Bannerman; at both which I was merry and
gott my first acquaintance with the females.

Dec[embe]r. By order I removed and quartered over the r[ivule]t Yausa,

in the Tagany and Potters slabod309 within the earthen wall. Here I had
my quarters in a rich merchants house, who used all meanes to gett me
removed and brought two orders out of the Court Office310 to this pur-
pose. But I being loth to quite such a convenience, did not obey them,
pretending that without an order out of the Stranger Office I would not
remove, and keeped the orders by me.

At this tyme ane accident did fall out, which I cannot omitt to relate.
At my removall from the Zagrodniky a Russe lievtennant called Peter
Nikiforuf311 came to me with a serjeant, telling {135v} me that three
souldiers the night befor, in a quarrell with the streltsees, were so beat and
maimed that they were not able to remove with the regiment, and that
without ane underwritten petition from me they could not be permit-
ted to stay in their quarters; so, bringing a petition and reading it, that
they might stay in their quarters 5 or 6 dayes untill they might be able
to remove, which I, suspecting no deceit, unadvisedly put my hand to
it. But when I mustered the regiment in the Tagany slabod, these mens

309
  Tagannaya and Goncharnaya (Potters’) slobody, east of Moscow’s centre.
310
  Properly, Great Palace Office (Prikaz Bol’shogo Dvortsa), which supervised the tsar’s
palaces and estates.
311
  Piotr Nikiforov.

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names being called, their comorades answered that they were let of to
their habitations. After which enquireing, I understood that this lievten-
nant, being bribed by these sojours, had either not read the petition right
or shufled in another into my hands to subscrive; {136} for the petition
I subscrived was to let of 3 sojours to their houses for 6 weekes. These
three comeing to Vologda, where their habitations were, the governour
apprehended them and sent them to Mosko with the petition; w[hi]ch
thereafter by the malice of the chauncelor (who was my enemy) had like
to have bred me great trouble.

Dec-r 16. The Boyar Elia Danielovits Miloslavsky mustered our regiment
and gave 600 of them to a golova312, newly created to be streltsees. The golova
was called Nikifor Kolobuf. The sojours grieved exceedingly hereat, and
many of them runn away.

{136v} Dec-r 19. My landlord continuing his solliciting to be freed of

me out of his house, a writer very well accoutred and attended by 20 fel-
lowes called trubnikes313, such as are called by us catchpoles, came out of
the Court Office, haveing a written order in his hand to remove me out of
my quarters to another. I being at dinner, and he admitted into the roome,
began very uncivilly to command me to be gone. I desireing him to shew
his order, he told me he would not entrust me with it because I had kept
or torne the two former. And I telling him I would not be gone except
he shew me the order, he commanded some of the catchpoles who were
gott into the roome with him to carry out my trunkes; and he himself layd
hold of one of the regiment collours, which were on the wall, to bring it
out. Which incensed me so, being heated befor by his uncivill behaviour,
that getting {137} up, by the help of two officers (who were at dinner
with me) and my servants, I drove him and his rude attendants out of the
roome and downe staires, where they rallying with these below, essayed
to ascend the staires againe by force. But wee being on the toppe of the
staires, easily repulsed them, they haveing no weapons but staves or sticks,
  Golova (Russian, literally “head”) – colonel of the streltsy.
312

  Trubniki (Russian) – literally, trumpeters.

313

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and wee the staffes of the collours, which at the driveing of them out wee
had laid hold on.
But some sojours, by this noise being come together and seeing this,
needed no watchword or command to fall on. For immediately with their
fist[s] and such clubs or cudgels as they could gett they so exercized these
rude guests, that they were glad to take them to their heeles and run downe
the street, the sojours convoying them to the Yaus bridge and basting
them soundly, takeing from them their caps and from the writer his with
pearles and a necklace of pearle, in all worth 60 rubles according as he
complained afterwards.
This had bred me great trouble, if there had not been at that tyme a
great dissension betwixt Fiodor Michaelovitz Artishow314,
{137v} Dec-r. who had
charge of the Court Office, and our boyar, whereby after some formall
inquisition the business was slighted. Yet by perswasion of some officers,
who understood the fashion of the countrey better as I, I removed to
another quarter.

The Boyar Elia Danielovitz Miloslawsky mustered 600 souldiers of our

regiment, and makeing them to a new regiment of streltsees, gave them to
a golova called Nikifor Ivan[ovich] Kolobuf, whereat the sojours grieved
exceedingly.
At the same tyme I was ordered to teach the said golova or colonell the
excercize of foot, he haveing never served to foot befor, neither knew any
thing what belong[s] to the command of a regiment.

Wee were called into the Office to take the oath of fidelity to the Tzaar, the
Hollands minister being to administrate it, and speaking befor us. When
he said that wee should swear to serve his Ma[jes]tie faithfully and truly
all the dayes of our lyves, I protested and would not proceed, relying on

314
  F.М. Rtishchev (1626 – 1673), okolnichy, tsar’s councillor and head of several Offices,
including that of the Great Palace from 1655/6 to 1663/4. Having declined the
boyar’s rank, he founded the Transfiguration (St. Andrew Stratilates’) Monastery
near Moscow with a school in it.

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my capitulation. Which not being allowed, and I remaining constant, was

detained in the Prykase, untill this medium was found, and I forced to
swear to serve so long as the warr with Polland should continue.
{138} Befor I proceed in the relation of the progresse of my particular
proceedings, I must speake some thing of the publick passages.

The yeare of our Salvation 1660 was a very fortunate yeare for the Polls.
For in the beginning of the year they made peace with the Sweds and
cleared Prussia of them; they dismissed the Roman Emperours forces;
they besieged and tooke Littawish Brest315; recovered Mohilow by a
s[t]ratagem; distressed diverse of the Russe garrisons, as Borisow, Bichow
and others; worsted Kniaz Ivan Andreovits Chovansky at Lochovits316
and Kniaz Yury Alexeiovits Dolgorukoy317 at Bassa or Gubary; ruined
and tooke the whole army of the Moskowites at Czudnow; forced the
Cosakes to a submission, quartering their army in the Ukrayna among the
Cossakes, with possession of the most of the townes and fortresses on
the south and {138v} west syde of the Boristhenes, whereby their coun-
trey was freed from winter quarters, from pillageing and the intollerable
extortions and devastations by transeant quarters, so that the nobles and
principall persons passed the winter with feasting and revelling, and the
best part of the summer with consulting.
In the meane tyme the armyes, being impatient of the delayes made for
their pay, confederated. The cavaliery first drawing together, each regiment
chused a director and at a generall rendevous, where were deputies from
most of the regiments of foot, they chused one Swidersky to be their
315
  Brest (Brześć Litewski) was recovered by the Poles in February 1661.
316
  The Russians were defeated near Liakhovichi, better known as the battle of
Polonka, on 18 June 1660. Prince I.А. Khovansky (†1682) was boyar from 1659,
voyevoda of Pskov and Novgorod, and head of the Streltsy Office (Streletsky pri-
kaz) from 1681. He lost several battles against the Poles and Lithuanians, and got
the nickname Tararuy, i.e. Twaddler. He was executed on Regent Sophia’s order
(Khovanshchina).
317
  Prince Yu.А. Dolgoruky (Dolgorukov), boyar from 1648, voyevoda, head of
the Cannoneer (1650 – 1662, 1677/8), Streltsy (from 1675) and other Offices.
He suppressed Stepan Razin’s rebellion, then became guardian to Tsar Fiodor
Alexeyevich, and was killed by the streltsy during their Moscow riot in 1682.

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generall director, absolutely denying to be commanded by the hetmans, or

to obey or comply with their orders untill they gott satisfaction for their
pay. {139} This startled and confounded the resolutions of the Pollonians
extremely in prosecuting the warr with the Moskovites and subduing the
rest of the Cossakes and Ukraina. Hereby also the Russes had tyme to
breath on that hand, and it bred great confusion amongst the Cossakes.
The jealousies betwixt the Court and the Crowne and Field Marshall
Lubomirsky were no small encouragement for the army to mutiny, many
needy and busy persons hopeing by such troubles to make a fortune, at
least to be relieved of their necessityes. Many also {139v} concurred and
strived to signalize themselves in that mutiny in hopes to be taken notice
of as active persons, and so to gett esteeme.
It is true that kingdomes, states and all humane effaires have a crisis,
and it was thought that the Kingdome of Polland had its crisis in the
yeares of our Redemption 1655, 56 and 57, and that after so many calamit-
yes God had been pleased to shew mercy and restore it to its former lustre
and glory; and in many yeares it was not in a greater possibility and likely-
hood of recovering itself as in the yeare 1660, which by these unhappy
differences and confederacy did, as it were, fall in a relapse of misfor-
tunes. Which (if it be lawfull to dive into the secrets of the Almighty) can
be imputed to nothing so much as to the ingratitude of the Polls for so
great and signall goodnes of God {140} in giveing them such victoryes
and advantage over their enemyes, as also to their too great insolency and
other sinnes.
I remember of one passage, which was, in my opinion, very unde-
cent (impertinent, not to give it a worse epithete). On Corpus Christi day
there was a great procession to the New Towne [of Warsaw], to a church
dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, wherein all the collours taken the yeare
befor from the Moskovites and Cossakes were caryed befor the spirituali-
ty.318 Amongst these collours were 3 taken at Czudnow, belonging to the
woywods or generalls, very large and rich, and which had drawne on them
the pictures of saincts and on one of them that of the Blessed Virgin;

318
  Сf. above, fol. 112.

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which being caryed after all the rest, when the archb[isho]p came with the
Blessed Sacrament under a canopy carryed by honourable persons, these
collours were throwne downe on the ground, and they all went treading
over them. The King with the chieffe {140v} nobility comeing imme-
diately after, seemed not well satisfyed, and commanded to take up the
collours, which was very devoutly and royally done.
I shall forbear to speake any more of that pleasant, fertile but
unfortunate countrey, and proceed.

The Roman Emperours Ambassadors the Barons Colucci and

Mairberg319 had been some tyme in Mosko mediating a peace with
Polland, where wee had occasion of hearing devotion so oft as wee
pleased.320
The Littawish Field Generall Gąsiewsky was kept closse prisoner321,
and being sickly, ane Italian doctor, who had been taken prisoner and
now released, at his desire was sent to attend him. Where in discourse
he advised him to make use of cremor tartari322 in his victualls or broth,
which word he repeating, it seemes, diverse tymes and being overheard
by a Russe captaine who had the guard, and must be constantly present
319
  Augustin von Mayerberg (or Mayern; 1611 – 1688), Austrian diplomat, who visited
Moscow in 1661 – 2 and was created baron in 1666. He left a valuable account
of his mission (Iter in Moschoviam Augustini Liberi Baronis De Mayerberg … ; trans-
lated into several languages), supplied with unique plans and drawings (Аl’bom
Meyerberga. Vidy i bytovye kartiny Rossii XVII veka. 2 vols. (St. Petersburg, 1903)).
The name of the other Imperial ambassador was Orazio Guglielmo Calvucci.
320
  Many years later, largely owing to Patrick Gordon’s efforts, the first Roman Catholic
church was allowed to be built in Moscow; until then Catholics were only per-
mitted to worship privately. The Imperial embassy of 1661 included chaplain
Sebastian Glavinić, who officiated daily.
321
  Wincenty Korwin Gosiewski (ca.1620 – 1662), field hetman of Lithuania from 1654.
He was taken prisoner by Prince Yu.А. Dolgorukov in 1658 and four years later
exchanged for captive Russian commanders, only to be shot dead by his own
rebellious compatriots.
322
  Cream of tartar (Lat.), also known as potassium bitartrate, which crystallises in wine
casks during fermentation of grape juice. The author obviously heard of this
episode from the Imperial ambassadors; by their own statement it occurred in
June 1661, i.е. before Gordon’s arrival in Moscow (А. Маyerberg, Puteshestviye v
Moskoviyu (Мoscow, 1874), pp. 88 – 9).

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when any {141} body spoke with the generall, went to the boyar and
delated and accused the doctor that he had alwayes very serious discourse
with the emprisoned generall, and that they were contriveing some thing
against the state; that the doctor brought him all intelligence, and that he
had heard them often speake of the Crimean Tartars. Whereupon the
doctor was imprisoned and examined very sharply, and had been without
doubt pined, because he denyed all, and in particular had never had any
discourse about state or military effaires, and had never spoke of any
Crimean Tartars.
The suspicion was the greater because there was certaine intelligence
that the Crim Tartars were to fall into Russeland. After some weekes
detainment, the generall haveing gotten notice and calling to mind their
discourse, remembred of his advice to make use of crem[or] tart[ari]. And
their discourse being in Latine, he conceived (as the truth was) that the
Russe and these with him (for others of {141v} the guard had declared the
same) might be mistaken, and gott his pristave323 to represent it to the boyar;
which after long deliberation, and the doctors deposition agreeing, he was
dismissed.

In October the Russe army was beat at a place called Kutchy Gory324
by Polotsko, the occasion whereof was this. The Littawish army had not
strayed from their fidelity and duty as the Crowne army had done, but
endeavoured with all their power to straiten the Moskovitish garrisons,
especially Borisow, Bichow, Witepsky and Polotsko. At this tyme there was
one Czarnafsky, a colonell, and a volunteer or freebooter called Valentin
[ … ], otherwise the Blind Serjeant, he haveing been a serjeant under the
Sweds and blind of one eye, the same who 2 yeares befor beat and tooke
Maior Generall Adergass325. These sometimes together and sometymes
323
  Pristav (Russian) – guard or escort officer.
324
  Gordon describes the defeat of Prince I.А. Khovansky by the Polish-Lithuanian
army under King Jan II Kazimierz, Kazimierz Żeromski and Stefan Czarniecki at
Kushliki or Kushlikovy Gory on 25 October (4 November) 1661. Gordon’s infor-
mation probably came from his compatriots and friends Dalyell and Forret or his
kinsman Colonel Cornelius van Bockhoven, who are mentioned here.
325
  See above, fol. 17 v.

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apart, haveing a company of adventurers sometymes to the number of

2,000 men, did great mischieffe {142} to the Moskovitish garrisons and
the countreyes under their jurisdiction, especially about Lutina326 and
Polotsko. To prevent which an army [was sent] under the command of
Kniaz Ivan Andreovitz Chovansky, a man only famous for hazarding,
and that he durst fight, at least set others a fighting. He had a colleague
with him called Affonassy Lawrentiovitz Nasczokin327, a very wise states-
man and in great favor with the Tzar. The army consisted most of the
Novogrodians and these from Olonets, and were in all about 12,000 men.
The Polls, haveing notice of this army conveeneing at Polotsko, detached
a part of their army to observe it. Betwixt these armyes some fights and
skirmishes happened, wherein the Russes, being the strongest, had the bet-
ter. The Littawers seeing this, withdrew and entrenched themselves in a
strong ground not farr from the Moskovites, and only hindred their excur-
sions for provisions and {142v} provender; whereby the Moskovites were
in some scarcity, albeit they were but 15 verst from Polotsko.
In the meane tyme the King of Polland, being come to the Vilna to
oblidge the Littawish army to continew in their duty, and haveing some
choice trowpes with him, advanced towards Polotsko. By this tyme the
Moskovites began to desert by 100-s and by fiftyes, so that their remained
scarce 6,000 men. Lt. Gen-ll Tho[mas] Dalyel328 who was then in the
326
  Ludza, Latvia.
327
  А.L. Оrdin-Nashchokin (ca.1605 – 1680), Duma nobleman from 1658, boyar from
1667 and head of the Embassy Office in 1667 – 70. A favourite of Tsar Alexey,
he was a firm adherent of Western ways, but the failure of his policies in the
Ukrainian hetmanate led to his fall in 1670. In 1672 he took monastic vows.
328
  Тhomas Dalyell of The Binns (ca.1615 – 1685), eminent Scottish royalist com-
mander. Having been captured at Worcester and escaped from the Tower of
London, he joined the tsar’s service in 1656 as lieutenant general on recom-
mendation of King Charles II. In summer of 1661 the tsar wrote to Prince I.A.
Khovansky that he should “hold Тhomas Dalyell in regard and kindness, and not
do against his will in military instruction, and make him general over the whole
infantry and streltsy, because it became known to him, the Great Sovereign, that he,
Thomas, does serve him diligently, and is accustomed to military instruction and
every military order”. Dalyell was later promoted to full general and commander
of Smolensk garrison. In 1665 he returned home to become Commander-in-
chief of the King’s forces in Scotland and member of the Privy Council. He

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army, seeing the army so dimi[ni]shed and suspecting the comeing of

more forces, advised Chovansky to retire neerer to Polotsky, as did his
colleague329 also, but he would not. Wherefor Gen. Daliel, declaring that
he would not be witnes to the ruine of the army, went to Polotsko, leaving
his regiment with his lt. colonell.
Some dayes thereafter, the recruits of the Polls being come, they drew
{143} out, and finding Chovansky as ready as themselves, they engaged.
But after a short dispute the Moskovites were routed, Colonell Duglas
killed, Coll-s Forrat and Bockhoven330 taken with many more. Here were
killed about 1,500 of the Moskovites and some hundreds taken.331 The
season of the yeare did not permitt the Polls to persue or to make any
great use of this victory.332

severely suppressed rebel Covenanters, who dubbed him “bluidie Muscovite” and
“Muscovy beast”.
329
  Оrdin-Nashchokin.
330
  These colonels were Scots Robert Douglas and Andrew Forret, later member of
the Russian embassy to London under Prince P.S. Prozorovsky, and Cornelius
van Bockhoven from the Netherlands, who became related to Gordon through
the latter’s marriage.
331
  Gordon must have got an account of the course of war around Polotsk from
Thomas Dalyell, who came to Moscow in summer of 1662 after a long absence.
But this entry seems to have appeared in the Diary even later: Colonel Czarnawski
and Libek (“One-eyed Sergeant”) became prominent beyond the Dvina River
only by 1664, while earlier Dalyell had to deal with other Polish-Lithuanian
commanders. Such a conjecture would explain Gordon’s mistake about the goal
of Khovansky’s campaign in 1661 (it was not against partisans, but the entire
Lithuаnian army, in order to raise the blockade of Polotsk and Wilno). After some
years this information, secondary for the author, got mixed up in his memory.
However, Gordon’s evidence on infantry forces and losses of the Novgorod
corps (razriad) at Kushliki is remarkably exact. Contemporary sources (Russian
State Archive of Ancient Acts (RGADA), F. 210, Smotrennye spiski, № 87) attest
to 12,000 foot, of which over 6,500 men have deserted. Battle casualties on 25
October amounted to 1,000 killed, taken prisoner and missing, except the losses
of Ordin-Nashchokin’s and Dalyell’s regiments, i.е. about 1,500 men indicated by
Gordon (Note by О.А. Kurbatov, to whom I am obliged for contributing to this
commentary).
332
  The next MS page is blank, numbered by Gordon 298.

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{f. 144} 1662

Ja[nua]ry 2. I entertained all the writers of the Stranger Office at a feast,

and gave each of them according to their quality a gift in sables, to some
a paire, to some one. Whereby I gained a great goodwill from them, and
was ever after much esteemed by them, they being alwayes very ready to
forward any businesse I had in the Office.

On Sunday thereafter I entertained my colonell with his family, Docto[r]

Collins333, Mr. Benyon, Mrs. Tibuth with her daughter, being all the
acquaintance I had acquired in the Slabod. Wee sat up late and were very
merry, so that one falling in fancy with a lady was not able to containe
himself or conceale it.

The Tartars, haveing made an incursion as farr as Shewsky334, 400 sojours

of our regiment were sent away with Russe officers to maintaine the
{144v} passages at the sasheks335, which are tracts of woods let grow so
thick that no horse and scarcely foot can passe through except at the high
wayes, which were fortifyed with forts. But these Tartars, haveing ravaged
as farr as Karatshow336 and taken many prisoners and much booty, were in
their returne at a village called
Ja[nua]ry 13, Moon[day]. Prutky surprized in the night tyme and
routed by Kniaz Gregory Semenovitz Kurakin337; the prisoners and most
333
  Samuel Collins (†1671), English doctor at the court of Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich.
He lived in Russia from 1659 to 1668 and recorded his impressions in his book
The Present State of Russia, in a Letter to a Friend at London (London, 1671).
334
  Sevsk.
335
  Zaseki or zasechnye cherty (Russian) – defensive structures along Russia’s southern bor-
ders, built to contain Tatars and other invaders. They consisted of felled trees,
ramparts, moats and natural obstacles and were connected by a chain of forts.
336
  Karachev.
337
  Prince G.S. Kurakin (before 1606 – 1682), boyar from 1651 and voyevoda. He
defended Russia’s southern frontier, took part in the war against Poland-Lithuania,
then served as governor of Siberia and Pskov.

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of the booty recovered, and many of themselves killed and taken. Among
the prisoners was a mursa of the Serinsky kniazes, or the family of Gieray,
being the Chans family.338

The Swedish ambassadours came to Mosko for ratification of the treaty

or peace339, being received and entertained according to the accustomed
manner, and after some stay dispatched with satisfaction.

{145} At this tyme a great ambassy was prepareing from the Tzaar to con-
gratulate our Kings happy restauration, Knias Peter Simonovitz Prosorofsky
being ordained yr-to and his colleague Ivan Affanasseovits Zelabofsky.340

The copper money grew daily worse and worse, so that in the beginning
of this yeare it was at 5 and 6 for one of silver, it haveing been but at
3 when I came into the countrey, so that wee were not able to subsist.
Wee petitioned his Ma-tie, but gott no redress. At last wee gott our pay
augmented a 4th part, but this was but litle help. My good ducats, w-ch
I had gained with such labour in another countrey, must now go up
here.
All this winter I was at inexpressible paines and trouble. I must exercize
the regiment twice a day, not a day but receiving and giveing of sojours to
be sent to their respective garrisons and regiments. {145v} For all these
sojours wee had were but runawayes, being catched by their governours in
the places where they lived, and sent up to Mosko; from whence also there
was scarce a day but some runaway.
338
  The Shirin (Shirinsky) family were prominent Crimean nobles, related to the Geray
dynasty of the Crimean Khans.
339
  The Russo-Swedish peace was concluded in Cardis (Livonia) on 21 June 1661, but
because of some problems (divergence of Russian and Swedish texts, demarca-
tion of the border etc.) was fully ratified as late as 1684.
340
  Prince P.S. Prozorovsky the Elder (†1691?), stolnik, then voyevoda, Russian dip-
lomat. I.А. Zheliabuzhsky (1638 – 1692), voyevoda, Duma nobleman from
1676, okolnichy from 1683; the diary ascribed to him must belong to a differ-
ent person, as pointed out by Paul Bushkovitch (Peter the Great: The Struggle for
Power 1671 – 1725, Cambridge, 2001, p. 35). Another member of Prozorovsky’s
embassy was the Scot Colonel Andrew Forret, also mentioned by Gordon.

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But to returne to the copper base coine. The reason that it grew dayly
worse and worse was that much was imported by way of stealth from
beyond sea, and in Mosko and other townes much was coined by private
persons. Many of such false coiners being discovered, who had each a
hand cut of, were knuted and sent to Siberia, and their goods confiscated,
but all would not help, and even some great persons were discovered to
have a hand in such coining.

A boyar called Boris Ivanovitz Morosuf341, dying without children this win-
ter, left a great estate to the Tzaar and much money. He left to the stranger
officers a months pay in reichs dollers, which wee received. He was mar-
ryed to the Empress342 her sister, Anna Ili[n]itczna.

{146} Feb[ruary] 13. Being merry in the evening at drawing of Valentines343

and sitting up late in the night, my owne sojours who were on the guard by
me stole my best horse and run away to their homes. I caused it to [be] writ-
ten in the Prikase and used great diligence, but never recovered my horse,
notwithstanding I had notice that the governour of Vologda had taken him
from the sojours; whereof Coll. Whitfuird who was let of this spring to
England, going that way, gave me notice *by his letter of the 15 Junii*.344
I bought another horse, giveing 50 rubles for him, which proved an ill
conditioned jade, but a great runner.

341
  B.I. Morozov (1590 – 1661), boyar from 1634, tutor to Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich and
virtual head of government in the early part of his reign.
342
  Gordon uses this title for Tsaritsa Maria Ilyinichna.
343
  This could well be the earliest mention of St. Valentine’s eve celebrated in Muscovy
by foreigners, which, of course, has never been customary in Orthodox Russia.
344
  Words marked with asterisks were written in later. Scottish Colonel Walter
Whiteford served the tsar since the late 1650s and apparently left Russia for good
in 1665. King Charles II acknowledged his loyalty by augmenting his coat of arms
with three crosses patee argent (Lyon Register, I, 440). But royal favour could not
save a Roman Catholic from Protestant zeal: in 1673 the Scottish Privy Council
removed Whiteford from the Earl of Linlithgow’s regiment (Passages from the Diary
of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries (Aberdeen, 1859), p. 34), after which he
opened Scotland’s first public coffee-house in Glasgow (G. Eyre-Todd, History of
Glasgow, II: From the Reformation to the Revolution (Glasgow, 1931), p. 365).

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I was entertained diverse tymes very kindly in the Slabod, and was at
diverse wedding[s], as in November at Ruitm-r Ryter his, who was marryed
to the widdow of Lt. Coll. Thomas Menezes, who dyed of his wounds
at Czudnow; and at one Capt. Lidert Lomme, who was marryed to [ … ]
Bannerman345; and in January at the {146v} wedding of Lt. Coll. Dickson,
who was marryed to a widdow.

Comeing out of the towne very hungry on a Fridday, and dineing by Capt.
Menezes whither I had been invited, I eated too largly of boyled pikes,
which I perceived immediately to have done me harme. I strove to qualify
it by drinking much double brandy, but it would not help, but increased so
that in the night I had an extraordinary hott feaver.
I sent for Doctor Collins, who came in the evening with my colonell,
and Mr. John Annand, a surgeon, who let blood of me in the median of my
left arme. In the night the feaver abated but very litle, yet towards midday
the next day it relented. They gave me diverse inward medicines, whereby
it turned to an intermitting feaver, and after 10 or 12 dayes I recovered
so that I rose up, and in some few dayes I went about my busines. But in
a weeks tyme {147} I gott a relapse, which because of my weaknes was
more dangerous and did oppress me more. At this tyme they all concluded
that I had a hectick feaver, yet by the help of medicines, next to Gods help,
I recovered, haveing kept bed and house about 3 weekes.

I made a visitt to the Slabod, and returning in a cold frosty evening, my

feet being a litle wett, I catch’d cold in them, and so gott a second relapse,
which was a great deale more dangerous as the former. After I had lyen
some dayes, I resolved to go to the Slabod and stay there, to be neerer the
phisicians. I tooke jorney the next day, being Saturnday, in a coach, and
being with unease gott to the Slabod, I tooke up my lodging in a new built
house belonging to Coll. Snivins.
In the night I found no great change as to the worse, but in the
morning I found myself very evill and still worse and worse. {147v}

345
  Gordon repeats what he wrote above, fols. 134 v. – 135.

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About nine aclock I grew faintish and weake, and about noone, as I was
telling Lt. Hay that I beleeved I must dy, I swounded, and knew nothing
till neer evening, when comeing to the use of my senses, by litle and litle
I perceived a great many people in the roome with a number of candles.
A litle thereafter, being asked if I remembred any thing dureing the tyme
of my swounding, I could not tell them any thing but that I thought
I was asleep. Lt. Hay told me that when I swounded, he run for Mr.
Annand and fetcht him, who with great force opening my teeth, forced
downe my throat a sort of electuary, and then went away telling that
in an howre or two I would either dy or recover; which, though not so
soone, yet after 3 howres they perceived a change in me as to recovery.
It was evening befor I came to my senses againe, when perceiving many
people in the roome, I wondred what the reason might be, not knowing
any thing {148} but that I had been asleep all that tyme. Neither, being
asked, could I tell any other thing.
I keeped my bed many dayes, confessed and communicated on Good
Fridday, being very weake and almost despairing of recovery. But at last,
by Gods great goodnes and the help of medicines, I began to recover,
and the violence of my sicknes abateing, it turned at last to a tertian ague.
I was visited by many ffriends in my sicknes, Colonell Crawfuird with
his lady and family being exceeding kind to me and suplying me with many
things conducible to my health.
Dureing my sicknes the three sojours, who by the knavery of the
Lievtennant Peter Mikiforuf had been let home to their houses,
were brought up to Mosko, and the petition which I had subscrived.
Whereupon I was sent for to come into the Prikase, but I being so sick, it
was delayed. However, recovering a litle, I began to provide how to free
my self of this inconvenience, and sent for the writer Mark Ivan[ov],
who had the business in his hands, and told him the reall truth of the
business and asked his advice. He (as all the rest of {148v} the writers)
being my ffriend, promised to do what he could. So I gave him a petition
subscrived with my hand, wherein the matter then represented to me was
written, desireing him to insert that in the roll and to give me out the
other. Which with a present of 2 ducates prevailed so with him that the

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next day he sent me the former petition, which haveing committed to

Vulcan346, I rested secure as to that particular.

All this tyme I remained hugely discontented with my present condition in

this place and considered of all wayes imageinable how to disengage my
self of this place and service. But seeing no possibility, I grew very melan-
colious, which indeed was the occasion of the continuance of my sicknes.
I was kept in suspence a long tyme by a boyar called Fiodor Andreovits
Miloslafsky, who was designed great ambassadour to the Shach of
Persia347. And knowing how much a bribe well addressed can prevaile,
I found meanes to present him with an hundred ducats, and to his maior
domo a horse furniture which cost me 20 ducats, who was to sollicite our
business. I desireing {149} that he would obtaine from the Tzaar that I
with Capt. Menezes might go in his suit to Persia, he undertooke it very
frankly and promised to do the business. But after about 6 weekes sollicit-
ing, seeing no apparency of doing any thing, I desisted.

April 22. Colonel Crawfuirds lady her sister Mrs. White, being to go by
water to her father in Casan, I with many more convoyed her downe to
the river syde below the Danielofsky monastery, and were merry at part-
ing. In our returne, wee being by a ffriend detained a litle and makeing hast
to overtake our company, my horse being a head strong jade, and getting
downe his head, did so runne out that I (being very much weakened by my
sicknes) was not able to command him. So that comeing near the bridge,
and being afrayed that he should stumble on the bridge (which was very
bad) and so throw me and himself both in the river, strove to keep him
into the river [sic], and getting hold of the bitt by his mouth, he raised
himself up and in falling downe againe stumbled, so that I tumbled downe
and broke of the head of my pistoll. Which alteration and fright {149v}
346
  God of fire in ancient Rome.
347
  Abbas II (1632 – 1666), Shah of Persia (Iran) from 1642. The Russian ambassador
to Persia in 1663 – 64 was okolnichy (from 1661) Fiodor Yakovlevich Miloslavsky,
who died during his mission. Gordon’s rare mistake in the patronymic, pointed
out by Paul Bushkovitch, makes one realize how accurate the details usually are
in the Diary.

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cured me of the ague, so that at the tyme of the paroxisme I had only a
gruing or rawness of the stomack and a languishing in my members.

In May I went and tooke up my quarters by the regiment, continuing in

dayly exercizing of the sojours, who dayly encreased, and waiting upon
regiment business in the Prikase, so that by good dyet and exercize I began
to recover my health.

In June I lost and gained 20 rubels at a horse race, and thereafter I wonne
a 100 rubels at a horse race, which was run 5 verst. I was severall tymes
feasted by ffriends in the Slaboda and I received many visits, and the 100
rubles I gott by the horse race was most spent in entertaining the ffriends
who came to see the race.

{150} July 5.348 In the morning early, haveing the regiment exercizing in
the ffields by the New Spassuf monastery349, Coll. Crawfuird came to us
and told that their was a great tumult in the citty, giveing orders to march
to the Tagansky Gate. I enquireing where the Emperour350 was, and
being told that he was in Columinsky, I advised to march thither; which
the colonell would by no meanes consent to, but sent a Russe lievtennant
to learne what the businesse was, and afterwards rode himself to a bridge
where the mutineers were passing, where he was in danger of being
afronted, had he not been rescued by some of the selected sojours351
who know him.
The mutineers passed all out at the Czerpuchovish352 Gate, and were
about 4 or 5,000 men without armes, only some had clubs and sticks. They
pretended a redress as to the copper money, salt and diverse other things,
papers haveing been to that purpose placked on in diverse places of the
348
  Author’s slip: “Copper Riot” broke out in Moscow on 25 July 1662.
349
  Novospassky (New Saviour’s) Monastery, south-east of Moscow, patronized by the
reigning Romanov family.
350
  Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich.
351
  Soldiers of two regular “selected” Moscow regiments of foot, raised in 1656 – 58.
Gordon was later to command the second of these, the Butyrsky.
352
  Serpukhovsky.

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citty, and a writer reading a paper befor the Ziemsky Dwor353, containing their
grievances with the names of {150v} some persons whom they deemed
guilty of abuses, inviteing all to go to the Tzaar and seeke redress and the
heads of the evill counsellours. So the rable comeing together, some went
and robbed the house of a goist or alderman called Vasily Shurin354, but the
most part went to Columinska, whither being come as his Ma-tie was in
the church, they importunated some of the boyars and courtiers to make
their address to the Tzaar.
At last, the Tzaar comeing out of the church and getting to
horseback, they very rudely and with great clamours pressed him to
redress their grievances. The Tzaar and some of the boyars reprehending
them for comeing in such a tumultuary way and in such numbers,
told them that their grievances should be redressed; that to this end
a counsell should be immediately held, they should only have a litle
patience. In the meane tyme, upon their first comeing orders had
been sent to two of the colonells of the streltsees to come with their
regiments in all hast to {151} Columinsky, and the rest were ordered to
repress those in Mosko.
I was very impatient and pressed the colonell to march to Columinsky,
but he still denyed to march without orders. Wee had about 1,200 men
in the regiment 800 whereof were Mordwins and Czeremisses Tartars355,
who were sure would not medle with nor favour the mutineers or rebells;
the rest, being an omnigatherum356 of Russes, were not much to be
trusted. Yet they remained all except a few by the collours, the officers
keepeing good watch over them. I distributed powder and bullets, to
each 3 shott, which was all I had.

353
  Zemsky Dvor (lit. “Office of the Land”) administered the city of Moscow.
354
  Vasily Shorin, prominent Moscow merchant with the title of gost’, signifying that he
belonged to the merchant elite and received preference in government services
and contracts.
355
  Mordvins and Cheremis (Mari), Finnic-speaking peoples of the middle Volga
region. “Tartars” may refer to Volga Tatars or, more likely, the Mordvins and
Cheremis, as the term Tatar was at the time often used loosely to refer to non-
Russian peoples of the east.
356
  Motley group (Scots).

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At last I obtained leave of the colonell to ride my self to Columinsky

for orders, which I did in great hast. But the rebells had so besett the
avenues to the pallace that I could gett no access, and with great difficulty
escaped untaken by them.
In my returne Coll. Aggey Al. Shepeleyuf357 was standing in a meadow
with his regiment, which was very thinne, many of his sojors being
engaged in the rebellion. I asked him {151v} what orders he had. He told
me, to stay where he was. A litle further I did meet Artemon Serge[evich]
Matfeuf358 and thereafter Simon Fiod[orovich] Poltuf with their regiments
thinn enough on their march, who both told me they had orders to march
to Columinsk, but could give me no advice what to do.
Kniaz Yury Ivano[vich] Romadanofsky359, a confident of his Ma-ties
confidents and favorites, was sent to the Slabod or Suburb of the strangers
to bring them all to Columinsky. So there was a great hubub in the Slabod,
armes being taken from a merchant and distributed to those who wanted,
and all marched, some to horse and others afoot.
Being come to the regiment, which the colonell had marched of from
the gate and drawne up near a monastery, I perswaded him to advance,
which wee did as farr as the Kosuchofsky360 bridge, where wee received
orders to stay and secure the bridge, and take such as running away. For
by this tyme the two regiments of streltsees, being come and received
at the backe {152} gate of the pallace, they joyned with the courtiers

357
  А.А. Shepelev (ca.1623 – 1691), commander of the First Selected Moscow regi-
ment, later “Duma general” and okolnichy.
358
  А.S. Маtveyev (1625 – 1682), colonel of streltsy, later the tsar’s close advisor, boyar
and head of the Embassy Office and other Offices from 1671 to 1676, when he
virtually ran the government. He married Evdokiya Grigoryevna Khomutova,
possibly a descendant of the Scottish Hamiltons. He served with the father of
Natalya Naryshkina, second wife of Tsar Alexey and mother of Peter the Great,
and most likely brought her to the attention of the tsar. He introduced theatre and
ballet to the Russian court and directed the translation of Western books. Exiled
in 1676 and accused of sorcery, he was allowed back to the court by Tsar Fiodor,
but was butchered by the mob in the Moscow Kremlin during the streltsy revolt.
359
  Prince Yu.I. Romodanovsky (†1683), tsar’s cup-bearer, voyevoda, and boyar from
1665; he played a role in the tsar’s rupture with Patriarch Nikon.
360
  Kozhukhovsky.

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on horseback, and fallying out at the great gate, with no great danger
or trouble dispersed them, driveing some of them into the river, killing
others and takeing very many. Many also escaped.
The sojours of our regiment catched 13 of the straglers, who with
some others taken afterwards were sent to Columinsky the next day. Of
these rebels *a great*361 many were hanged the next day in diverse place[s],
and about 2,000 were thereafter with their wiwes and children sent into
exile to remote places.
All the strangers officers received a small largess or gratuity for this
business362, and my coll. received a very considerable gift, alike with the
colonells of the streltsees, who with their officers were very well rewarded.
And if my colonell had followed my advice, wee had come in tyme enough
to have guarded his Ma-tie and been able enough to have routed the
rebells; which my colonell afterwards many tymes regrated, that he {152v}
omitted so good an occasion of signalizing himself and us.

About this tyme the Biskier363 Tartars rebelled and straitened the Russe
garrisons, Ufa, Ossa and others. This countrey lyeth towards Siberia, to
the south of the river Kama, the rivers Ufa, Son364 and others which water
their countrey falling into the r. Kama. The oppressions and extortions of
the governours gave occasion to this rebellion. They are good horsmen,
their weapons bowes and arrowes and lances. They are heathens, their
countrey not fertile, full of woods; they abound in fish and wild fowle.
There are not 10,000 families of them all.
I sold 3 horses to Maior Landells for 60 r. dollers.
{153} My colonell gott orders with his regiment to march against
these wild people, which I hearing, told him that according to my capitu-
lation I had served now near a year for maior; that I did not intend nor
361
  Crossed out in MS.
362
  Foreign majors, headed by Gordon, received “4 arshins of Hamburg cloth at poltina
[half ruble] for arshin” (RGADA, F. 396, op. 2, kniga 317, fols. 306 – 308 v.). I am
grateful to А.V. Маlоv for this reference.
363
  Bashkirs, Turkic and Moslem semi-nomadic people living to the south-west of the
Ural mountains.
364
  Apparently, River Siun’.

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 1662 163

would go so farr from court (it being above 1,000 verst) in that charge,
because wee might perhaps stay some yeares. Which my colonell takeing
to consideration, and being [un]willing himself to be at such a distance
from court, and that against no noble enemy, made meanes to free him-
self of that service. The lt. colonel, being made colonell, went thither
with the regiment,
Sept[embe]r. and I was made lt. coll. in his place.

The Cosakish Hetman Yuras Chmielnitsky, haveing sided with the Pols
ever since the expedition of Czudnow, and haveing the command of most
of the other, or south, syde of the Boristhenes, came over with his army
in to the Severia syde at Kaniow, haveing two thin regiments of Polls
dragowns with him. Whereof the Moskovish Generall Kniaz Greg[ory]
Greg[oryevich] Romadanofsky365 haveing tymely notice, advanced with
his army and by a surprise routed them. After some resistance many
were killed, more drowned in the Boristhenes, but {153v} the most part
escaped, some by boats and some by swimming. Most of the dragownes
were lost.366 The Cosakes who were taken made shift to come free among
their owne brethren, and the dragownes also. Of strangers were taken
Coll. Wiwirsky, Lt. Coll. Shults, Capt. Hinning and others, who all thereaf-
ter by exchange or ransome came free.

Capt. Pawl Menezes was marryed, I being carver at the wedding where
Maior Gen-ll Drummond367 was father.

365
  Prince G.G. Romodanovsky (†1682), boyar and voyevoda. In 1654 he took part in
the Council of Pereyaslav, which brought half of Ukraine under the tsar’s sway,
and commanded the Russian army in Chigirin campaigns of 1676 – 78. He was
murdered by streltsy rebels in Moscow.
366
  These engagements took place in June and July 1662.
367
  William Drummond of Cromlix (ca.1617 – 1688), 4th Baron Madderty, eminent
Scots royalist commander, who joined the tsar’s army in 1656 along with Thomas
Dalyell. On 16 May 1662 he won an important victory against the Poles and
Lithuanians at Chausy, where 15 units of enemy infantry were destroyed. In 1665,
having reached the rank of lieutenant general, he returned to Scotland, became
Dalyell’s deputy, and was created Viscount Strathallan in 1686.

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Coll. John von Hoven was marryed to Coll. Mungo Carmichal368 his
widdow, where I had the same office with the same company as at the
other.

I removed to the Slabod and stayed in one house with Coll. Thomas
Crawfurd369. This I did to drive away melancoly and to have variety of
company.

Mr. Robert Benyon, apothecary, was marryed to Coll. Tho. Bailzie370 his
daughter Jean, and here I had a quarrell with Mr. Annand.

Oct[obe]r 25, Sat[urday]. Coll. Strasburgh, being abused and provoked by

Coll. Litskin, at a duell killed him in Shefsky.

{154} Lt. Coll. James Winram came to Mosko and was taken in pay.

Lt. John Henderson was marryed to the widdow of the Pastor John
Ridder, where I was brother.

I removed my quarters, and with Ruitm-r Andrew Burnet tooke a chamber

by Coll. John Bechler.

Coll. Cornelius Patberg and I with diverse others made up a maskarade

dance or ballet, and passed the tyme herewith among ffriends for a week
or two.

Coll. John Meves was marryed to a widdow, where I was carver.

368
  Colonel Mungo Carmichael (†1655) served in the tsar’s army since 1631 and died of
wounds in Belorussia at the outset of the Russo-Polish War.
369
  Colonel Thomas Crawford was elder brother of Gordon’s regimental commander.
370
  Thomas Baillie in 1649 was captain in Мungo Carmichael’s regiment in Russia. In 1660 his
“son Frants [Francis] and daughter Irina [Jean?]” came to Archangel (RGADA,
F. 150, op. 1, 1660, № 4). In 1670 Colonel Baillie defended Astrakhan against
Stepan Razin’s rebels, which cost him his life.

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Lt. Coll. Winram and Lt. Hay, haveing gott a quarrell with 2 Dutch men,
they went out and duelled it over the Yaus, where they came of with credit
and whole skins.

{154v} Colonell Meves and Ruitm-r Burnet, haveing at play quarrelled in

the evening, went out on horseback befor day to have duelled it all alone
without seconds, whom I followed, parted and made good ffriends.

The base copper money still growing worse and worse, after much sol-
liciting our pay was augmented with another quart, and thereafter at the
Tzaars desire the boyars sent us hay and wood, these only who had villages
in the Moskovish district, each getting according to their charge.

{155} Maior Generall Drummond went from Mosko to his charge in

Smollensko with good satisfaction, haveing had private conference with
his Ma-tie and gott considerable gifts.

Colonell Cornelius von Bockhoven, haveing been taken prisoner the year
befor by Polotsko, came to Mosko, and shortly after him Coll. Forrat, who
had been taken prisoner at the same tyme.

The Hollands Ambassadour Mr. Boreel received in Mosko.371

{156} 1663

The Polls Hetman Gąsiewsky, who had been taken not farr from the Vilna
some yeares ago, was dismissed, being exchanged for the Russe generalls
who had been taken at Czudnow.372
371
  The Dutch embassy headed by Jacob Boreel came to Russia in December 1664,
not 1662, and reached Moscow in January 1665 (see N. Witsen, Moskovische Reyse
1664 – 1665. Journaal en Aentekeningen (‘s-Gravenhage, 1966); Russian transla-
tion, St. Petersburg, 1996). Perhaps this year’s final entry was misplaced because
Gordon added it later. It is followed by five blank pages, numbered by the author
322 – 6.
372
  In August – September 1662 the Poles released Russian Princes Оsip and Semion

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 166 1663

Our regiment removed from the Alexeiofsky to the Pankratiofsky Slabod.

At the wedding of Mr. Annand, where I was carver.

{156v} Ja[nua]ry. At my comeing in to Mosko I was so surprized and

startled at the change of my condition, as to the pay, constitutions and
converse, that if I had not been kept in continuall action with exercizeing
the sojours and other regiment business, as also in the intervalls of busi-
ness conversing with some Scotsmen who were officers in the regiment,
albeit very much differing from me in humour, I had without doubt cast
my self into an irrecoverable malady. And as it was, I was brought the
yeare befor into such a weake posture as to my health, at first by a violent
and afterwards a lingering disease, that I could not in probability promise
my self any long lyfe, if I did not seek and take other methods in my way
of liveing.
Haveing been graced lt. colonell, whereby I was freed of the trou-
blesome Prikase and regiment business, which was devolved upon Capt.
Menezes who, being eldest capt., was to succeed to me in the maiors
place; who, being marryed and haveing need of helps besides his pay, and
{157} the major doing all the regiment business, there was some acci-
dences alwayes comeing to that place, which in this conjuncture of tyme
he stood more in need of as I; as also resolving to change my company
and apply my self to a converse with the ladyes and lovely female sexe,
upon which considerations I left the regiment and tooke up my habita-
tion in the Slaboda. Yet, nothing being permanent happy or satisfactory in
this world, I found my self here intangled in businessess which bred me
greater vexation as I could have imagined.
In the two bygone yeares very many stranger officers were come into
the countrey, some with their wiwes and children, but most without.
Among which many, if not the most part, were naughty base people, many

Shcherbaty, Grigory Kozlovsky and Piotr Khovansky (the latter was captured at
Kushliki) along with Stolnik Ivan Аkinfiev in exchange for Lithuanian Hetman
Gosiewski, but in November he was killed near Wilno by his own soldiers.

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whereof had never served in any honourable condition, and haveing capit-
ulated without the countrey for to be officers, and finding here a constant
though small pay, yet hopeing alwayes for better, many upon the accompt
of setling {157v} themselves, others upon the accompt of a livelyhood
and releeving their necessities, marryed wiwes, some widdowes, some vir-
gins, according as their fancyes led them. It being also usuall and innate
to the Russes not to trust batchelours so much as those who are marryed,
w-ch consideration made some take wiwes also, so that there was such
a generall conceit of wooing and marrying, that these free persons who
would not hazard were look’t upon as insipid, invalid or not well affected,
or unwilling to stay in the countrey; and all sorts of meanes were used by
the females and their ffriends to draw and entice men to such engagements.
In these temptations I had my share, and many direct and indirect
meanes were used to engage me in diverse places, but in one more espe-
cially, so that I had enough ado with all the policy I was master of to
keep my self free, and not incurr enimity and hatred. In which condition
I found my self in great straits, and my thoughts and fancyes much dis-
tracted, affoording superfluous {158} plenty of matter for consideration,
but no solid ground for a stedfast resolution.
On the one hand I found great hazard, inconveniencies and difficultyes
in changing my condition, marriage being one of the greatest actions in a
mans lyfe, whereby ones fortune is made or marred, at least each expects
to have his condition bettered. And here litle or nothing of that nature
could be expected, marriage with the natives not being permitted unles
one change his coat and embrace their religion; and among the strangers
especially, the military persons being generally poore, no fortune by a
portion was to be had any where, the burthen of keeping a house with a
wyfe being great, the pay bad; and albeit the copper money were changed
into silver, yet could it affoord but a sorry maintenance. As also, being
intangled with a wyfe, his freedome is lost, and not in such a capacity
to remove himself into another countrey, in case of peace and a liberty
to be gone. These with many other reasons strengthened my resolutions
not to marry not only here, but even in Polland. The love of my liberty,
and fear not to be able to maintaine a wyfe, had hindred {158v} me

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from good bargaines there, whereby I might have had ffriends and a
considerable fortune with well qualifyed persons.
On the other syde, I considered the straits I was in by designes which
some had upon me, which albeit I had had the good luck to resist hitherto,
yet possibly I might in my cups be enticed to utter a word whereof I might
repent me all my lyfe tyme. I also considered that a marryed lyfe had its
owne advantages and contentments, for in makeing a good choice a man
might gett a help and comfort in house-holding, sicknes and adversity;
something, tho not much, to better his fortune and livelyhood, as also
ffriends and (which was one of the greatest ends for which marriage was
ordained) avoyd sinne and have succession.
As for the maintaining a wyfe, I see others, haveing the same pay which
I had, keeping as good a table and going in as good equipage as my self.
So that I concluded that God gave a blessing to such an estate, and that by
batchelours who kept familyes more was squandred away as could main-
taine {159} a wyfe.
As for liberty, albeit marryage be a manner of bondage, yet it is the
most delightsome of any, and use and converse will make it appear a con-
tinuall recreation. As for removeing to another countrey, haveing a good
consort, help and counsell with other conveniencyes might counterbaile
abundantly any difficultyes as to that. Then, its begetting in the Russes
greater trust and confidence, and last of all, the enjoying the greatest
pleasure in the world without sinne, and hopes that such a change would
not only restore but confirme and continue my health.
So that, after my thoughts had been strugling and wawering amongst
such considerations, and haveing many tymes invocated the Almighty God
that He would be pleased to direct me for the best, at last on a Sunday in
the evening, being in my chamber lying on my bed, I began to make very
serious reflections on my present condition, and revolving in my mynd all
the disadvantages and advantages of changing it. At last the utilityes and
{159v} commodityes of a change and marryed lyfe preponderated the
other.
So that I began to advise and cast about, where and upon whom
to setle my fancy. And haveing that advantage that no military persons

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 1663 169

daughter or relation would refuse me (as for others, their condition and
way of breeding with other circumstances did not please me), I gave my
fancy leave to range over all the persons of note in this place. And have-
ing maturely considered all particulars relateing to each person, I found
none so agreeable and fitting as the daughter of Colonell Philip Albert
von Bockhoven, she being scarce thirteen yeares of age, handsome, well
proportioned, of a lovely countenance, pious, modest and well bred under
a well qualifyed mother; her father a well bred gentleman, eldest colo-
nell, and in great favour with the Tzaar and the nobility, who had been
taken prisoner at the battell of Bassa or Gubary about 2 yeares ago373 and
remained still prisoner. Her religion, w-ch was the same with myne, being
a very great motive.
{160} Ja-ry. Haveing resolved, and fixed my thoughts upon this per-
son, I wished an occasion to reveale my intentions, when in the instant
comes in Mr. John Annand, a ranting rash man, who had been a captaine
in Scotland and professed now chirurgery here. He seeing me in a melan-
choly and troubled condition, would needs have me to get up and make a
visitt to Coll. Cornelius von Bockhoven, who was lately come out of prison
and was lodged in the same house where my now resolved on mistris lived,
being their kinsman. This Mr. Annand had been oftentymes adviseing me
to marry, as being conducible to my health, and had mentioned the same
person as fittest, upon whom I had now setled my resolution. But I finding
him, though true-hearted, yet a temerarious unconstant person, was loth
to entrust him with any secret, untill I should come to a stedfast propost.
However at this tyme I let fall a word or two, which gave him hopes that I
was enclineing to follow his advise.
Being come to the house, I was made very welcome by the colonell,
and with other strangers whom I found there befor me {160v} kept
company ane howre or two. The company being gone, and I prepareing
to take my leave, the colonell stopt me to take one standing drink more,
because I came last. In the meane tyme Mr. Annand brought out my
now designed mistris and in a ranting way would needs drink a health

  See above, fol. 111 v.

373

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 170 1663

in remembrance of us jointly, which rude raillery I mislyked and shortly

after tooke my leave.
I was never a lover of makeing publick profession of any thing which
I did not really meane, especially in love matters. And albeit I had often
conversed with ladyes and complemented them a la mode, yet I never asked
anyones consent in the way of marriage, because I had never setled my
thoughts that way. But being now resolved, I imagined that my thoughts
could be reade out of my lookes and meane, and to delay to declare my
self would breed jealousy of mistrust or a cheat, which by quick dispatches
I thought best to avoyd, being loth that my sincere intentions should be
stained with the least suspicion.
{161} Ja-ry 12. In the evening I went to the house where my sweet-
heart was, with a resolution to propone the busines to her, and to her
mother also if occasion offered. Being come, I found my mistris alone
at home, her mother being gone abroad. She welcomed me, desireing me
to sitt downe, and told me she would send for her mother. I told her she
needed not disturbe her mother at this tyme, because my chieffe errand
was to herself, and that I could not make any long stay. She presenting me
with a charke374 of waters according to the fashion of the countrey, I told
her I would drink to her sweet hearts good health. She told me she had
none. I asking her againe, and she confirming it, I desired of her if she
would accept of me for her servant. Whereat she blushing, I told her that
it was no complement and that my intentions were reall, and that I came
of purpose to offer my service to her.
She recollecting her self, told me she had a father and a mother and
could say nothing without them. I told her againe that it is the fashion of
our countrey375 to ask {161v} the consent of the yong ladyes first, and
then make address to the parents. And so, with loveing words desireing
her to declare her self, she told me at last that she should be content with

374
  Charka (Russian) – small cup, usually of strong liquor.
375
  Colonel Philipp Albert van Bockhoven, Catherine’s father, formerly served in
Britain for some years. His wife belonged to the family of Vaughan from Wales
(A. Gordon of A[u]chintoul, The History of Peter the Great, Emperor of Russia, Vol.
I (Aberdeen, 1755), p. 138).

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 1663 171

what her parents would advise and command her. Wherewith I being sat-
isfyed, after a loveing farewell departed.
Ja-ry 13, Tuesd[ay]. Haveing notice that this was the birth-day of my
sweetheart, I provided gloves, ribbands and such like things to present
and bind her with, according to the wayes of the place. And Mr. Annand
comeing to me, I acquainted him with my intentions and tooke him along
with me to my mistris, whither being come, I wished her good luck on her
birth day and presented her with the things I brought, which after some
denialls and excuses she by the command of her mother accepted.
After some previous sincere expressions I proponed the business to
the mother, who after some formall niceties and scruples, especially that
without {162} her husbands consent she could give no firme assurance,
consented; only desired that it should be kept quiet untill her husbands
consent should be obtained. And because that her husbands neerest kins-
man was here, she desired me to come in the evening, when he should
be at home, and propone the busines to him, to the which I unwillingly
assented.
In the evening I came thither againe, and proponing my business to
the colonel, found him (he haveing daughters himself) somewhat severe
in this, that the daughter nor mother could not give assurance nor full
consent without the fathers approbation. Yet at last wee agreed on this,
that I should have access and be entertained in the house as a suitor; that
no other should be admitted upon that acco[un]t; that she should go to
no wedding, publick feast or entertainment without me or my approba-
tion, {162v} this being all the assurance I could obtaine. Seing the cases
were alike, I was content, fast and loose being good play in unsetled and
uncertaine tymes.376
This, though promised and resolved to [be] kept quiet, was in a day or
two talked all over the towne or Slabod, which, tho fainedly disowned to
strangers, yet could not be but acknowledged to ffriends.

  Gordon probably means to say that on the Foreign Quarter’s “bride market”, which
376

was full of intrigues, his proposal had some success, and no one would thwart the
engagement, even by dishonest means.

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Ja-ry 18. Lt. Coll. Winram was marryed to Juliana Kieth, where I was
carver and my sweetheart bridemaide, where, though envyed and hated,
wee were heartily merry.

{163} Feb[ruary]. I removed to another quarter neerer my sweet heart her

habitation, and had my dyet and washing as a child in the house.

22. I did writt to Ma[jor] G[enera]ll Drummond in Smollensko, informing

him of our great necessityes by reason of the copper money, and the small
appearance of a change.

{163v} March 17. Being the Czar his name day377, wee gave up a petition
representing our miserable condition by reason of the basenes of the cop-
per money, it being now at 15 for one of silver, and desireing to give us
silver money or the value in copper, or then to give us liberty to go out
of the countrey. Wee received no answer but that his Ma-tie would take it
into consideration.

{164} April 7.378

11. Received an answer of my letter of the 22 Feb-ry from M. Gen-ll
Drummond, his being dated Smollensko the 7th instant.

Generall Lesly379 deceassing in Smollensko, an order was sent to Lt.

Gen-ll Dalyell in Polotsko to be generall and to go to Smollensko to
suply the deceasseds place, and another to M. Gen-ll Drummond to be

377
  On 17 March the Orthodox Church celebrates the day of St. Alexis the Man of
God.
378
  There is no entry for this date.
379
  Sir Alexander Leslie of Auchintoul (ca.1595? – 1663), Scot who served Poland,
Sweden and, from 1630, Muscovy. He headed the first reform of the tsar’s army
along Western lines, raising the so-called “regiments of foreign order”, then
embraced Orthodoxy with the name of Avraam Ilyich, became Russia’s first-ever
general in 1654, and started a long pedigree of Russian Leslies, which survives
to this day.

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L. Gen-ll. Generall Dalyell in place of going to Smollensko came to

Mosko, haveing some grievances, which vexed the Boyar Elia Danielovitz
not a litle.

{164v} May. The Polls haveing straitened Bichow w[i]t[h] a blocquade,

Lt. Gen-ll Drummond went from Smollensko with a detachment of
about 2,500 horse and foot, and by plaine force beat them in the fields,
drove them over a passe, killing many, and taken diverse with litle loss,
removed the bloquade and relieved the towne with provisions and other
necessaryes, for w-ch he was liberally rewarded by the Czar.380

Generall Dalyel, haveing had some high words with the Boyar Elia
Danielovitz, remained in the Slaboda disgusted and discontented.

16. I did writt to my father, addressing my letter to John Lang in

Riga, haveing not had a letter since that received in Varshaw, dated
Achluichries381.
{165v} June 15, Moon[day]. I did writt to L. G-ll Drummond in
Smollensko.
The copper money cryed downe to our great rejoycing and comfort,
and a month and a halfe pay given us in silver money. They who had
notice of this some dayes befor bought up all what they could gett for
their copper money, and some corrupt persons in office in his Majestyes
name bought up most of the timber from the woodmongers, and their
was such a busy buyng up of things in all places, so that the wisest,
especially the shopkeepers, began to suspect a change of the money and
shutt their shops.
At the crying downe of the money it was told that they who had copper
money should bring it into the treasure, where they should have silver for it.
380
  According to reliable Russian sources, this victory over the Poles and Lithuanians
at Chausy was won by Drummond on 16 May of the previous year, 1662. See my
introductory article.
381
  Auchleuchries (Gaelic: Achadh luachrach, “field of rushes”), Patrick Gordon’s family
estate and birthplace near Ellon, Aberdeenshire. It was held of Lord Hay, Earl of
Erroll. This entry is followed by one blank page, numbered 346.

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And the sixteenth some hundreds of rubles {166} were exchanged at

ten for one to persons of all qualityes, and the next day some also, and all
this to prevent a tumult w-ch was feared. But the generality of the people,
especially the souldiery, were so well satisfyed with the silver that private
lossers were not regarded.

All this tyme the Ukraina and Cosakes were in very wawering circum-
stances. On the other syde of the Dneper Yuras Chmielnitsky stood
firme for the Polls, where Peter Doroshenko382 made a great figure also,
endeavouring to set up for himself. In the Zaporogue Ivan Martin[ovich]
Bruchovetsky, being made cashovoy383, pretending to the hetmanship upon
the acco-t of his services and the consent of the Cosakes there, who pre-
tended to have the fundamentall right in choosing a hetman, the regiments
of Pultava and Hadits384 being also enclined to him.
The colonells of Pereaslaw, Nizin and Czernichow385 made up a fac-
tion to have one of themselves {166v} made hetman, especially Iakim
Semen[ovich] Somsonko or Somko, Coll. of Pereaslaw, being brother to
one of them; who had done very considerable service in standing firme
and true to the Czar in preserving this syde of the Dneper for the Czars
interest, when Chmielnitsky their hetman with the Cosakes had rendred
themselves to the Polls, and sworne to the King and Republick at Czudnow
in the yeare 1660, upon which acco-t and his other services he would of a
long tyme heare of no competitor.
In such an uncertaine condition were the Cosakes for 3 yeares and
382
  Petro Dorofeyevich Doroshenko (1627 – 1698), colonel of Priluki, in 1665 – 1676
hetman of Right-Bank Ukraine. With Ottoman and Crimean help he attempted
to conquer the left bank of the Dnieper, but had to resign and submit to the tsar’s
forces, which included Gordon and his regiment.
383
  I.М. Briukhovetsky (†1668), Zaporizhian koshovyi otaman, hetman of Left-Bank
Ukraine from 1663. He was created boyar by the tsar, but rebelled against Moscow,
only to be killed by Cossacks. Zaporizhian Sich (Zaporogi, Zaporozhye), located
on an island in the middle of the Dnieper, was a major Ukrainian Cossack centre
from the 16th to the 18th century. Koshovyi otaman was the highest military rank of
the Zaporizhian Host, elected by Cossack elders.
384
  Hadiach.
385
  Respectively, Yakym Somko, Vasyl’ Zolotarenko and Anyky Sylych.

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more, each candidate striveing to promote his owne interest. Neither

could or would the Czar oblige them to consent and agree unanimously
for the chuseing a hetman, untill that Chmielnitsky haveing the yeare befor
adventured over the Dneper with an army of Cosakes, assisted by some
Polls horsmen and dragownes, to try the affections of the people, and
being beat betwixt Pereaslaw and Caniow by a surprize, where he lost
many men, the Polls dragownes being all killed, taken or drowned; of
their officers were taken Coll. Wiewersky, Lt. Coll. {167} Shults, Capt.
Hinningh and others, who were brought to Mosko.
By this defeat the Cosakes on the north syde of the Dneper, who
favoured Yuras Chmielnitsky, lossing hopes and hearts, joyned to the oth-
ers. So that Chmielnitsky, lossing his interest here, was not had more in
consideration, nor was Doroshenko so eminent as yet as to be a competi-
tour. One Hanenko386, keeping sure to the Polls, kept a small army apart,
but was not regarded.

In this juncture the Czar thought fitt to move the partyes on this syde
of the Dneper to submitt to the free election of the Cosakes. By which
meanes each party, relying upon their services to the Czar and the affec-
tion of the Cosakes, wer induced to condiscend to come to a meeting or
counsell, which should be held in the midle of June month, for the chuse-
ing {167v} a hetman, all the colonells and other officers of the Cosakes
being advertized to keep the dyet with their best people.
Kniaz Daniel Stephan[ovich] Velikygagin okolnitsy387 was sent with the
Colonels Inglis, Strasburg, Woronin, Polanskoy, Shepalayef and Scriabin
with their regiments to keep and guard the dyet, which was ordered to be
at Nizin, albeit Bruchovitsky and his party would have had it at Hadits or
thereabout. This army, being come to Nizin, attended the comeing of the
Cosaks, who at the appointed [day] came.

386
  Mikhail Khanenko, colonel of Uman’ regiment, hetman of Right-Bank Ukraine
under Polish rule in 1669 – 74. While he “was not regarded” in 1660 – 63, the
colonel was Ivan Lyzohub.
387
  Prince D.S. Velikogo-Gagin (†1675), voyevoda, okolnichy from 1655, tsar’s repre-
sentative at the “general” Cossack Council at Nizhyn in 1663.

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Somko the Pereaslavish colonell came with a great number of his

Cosakes well appointed (this being the first and p[rinci]p[a]ll regiment on
the north syde of the Dneper) and leaguered befor the Kyovish gate, to
whom the Nizins Colonell Vashouta [Zolotarenko] went out with his peo-
ple. And albeit the okolnitze forbid him to take out his cannon with him,
yet he tooke them, which the okolnitse seeing, sent orders to the gates to let
them pass, haveing expresly forbidden it {168} befor, fearing to give any
occasion of disgust or suspi[ci]on of partiality.
Bruchovitsky, who was the more politick, being recommended to the
okolnitze and haveing had some assurances from Mosko, leaguered on
the other syde. Both the hetmans (for so they entituled themselves, and
were so called by their followers) were desirous that the rada388 or counsell
should be kept on the syde where they were, and Somko threatned that if
it were not kept on the Kyovish syde, he would go back to Pereaslaw. But
the okolnitze, who favoured Bruchovetsky, would not consent, but pitched
the Emperours shatra389 or pavilion on the other syde.
June 16. In the morning, when also Somko with Zlotorenko, being
ordered to march to the other syde, did so and leaguered neer to
Bruchovitskyes party on the right, notwithstanding it had been ordered
that they should stand on the left hand of the Moskoes way. The souldiers
were drawne up {168v} on the right hand, and the streltsees on the left of
the shatra, and others round about it.
Afternoone the okolnitze came to the shatra, whither a litle thereaf-
ter Bruchovetsky came and had private conference with him, and there
made sure his party. But this day nothing could be done, because (as was
thought) tyme must be given to Bruchovetsky to tamper with Somkoes
party.
The okolnitze being returned to the towne, Bruchovetsky sent a sotnik
to complaine to him that Somko had taken some Cosakes and robbed
them of their horses, and that he had sent out 300 horsemen to intercept

388
  Rada (Ukrainian) – council, especially of Cossacks.
389
  Shatior (Russian) – pavilion or tent, in this case representing the tsar’s government.

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Guintofka390, and that he was forced to send out the Colonell Nounoj391
to secure him. The okolnitsy sent a maior to Somko to require him that
no strife nor discord should be amongst them. Somko told that he knew
nothing, only that some horsmen were sent out, and Vashouta said that
Guintofka had his {169} brother in irons, and that he had sent out to
releeve him.
17. About 10 aclock in the morning the okolnitsie with the regiments
marched out to the shatra. The guards being placed, Somko advanced out
of his leaguer with collours and armes, and Bruchovetsky did the lyke.
In their advancing many of the slightest Cosakes went from Somko and
joyned with Bruchovetsky.
The okolnitze sent to them that they should come without their armes,
w-ch they would not admitt of. But the bishop392 being come, the okoln-
itse went out of the shatra with him, takeing his Imperiall Majesties letter
along, and sent that Somko and Bruchovetsky with the officers and best
of the Cosakes should leave their armes and horses and come on foot to
the shatra, which they did, only Somko had his sable and saydak393.
The {169v} foot being drawne out on both sydes, the okolnitze with the
bishop, stolnik and chancellour standing upon benches, the Emperours let-
ter was read for chuseing a hetman, and then the order of chuseing. Which
was not halfe read out when a great rumor arose among the Cosakes,
some crying “Somko!”, and some “Bruchovetsky!”, which redoubling
with throwing up their caps. When Somko his bunshuke394 and collours
were brought with the foot in their armes, and thronging forward covered
Somko with the collours, and putting him upon the bench proclaimed
him hetman. In this throng and confusion the okolnitse with the rest were

390
  Matvey Gvintovka, follower of Briukhovetsky, colonel of Nizhyn in 1663 – 67 and
general yesaul in 1668 – 71 (Ukrainian: heneralny osavul, high Cossack rank next to
hetman).
391
  Probably, General Osavul Parkhom (Parfeniy) Nuzhny.
392
  Меfody (Filimonovich), Bishop of Mstislavl’ and Orsha in 1661 – 66, temporary
head of the Orthodox Metropolitan See of Kiev in 1661 – 64.
393
  Saydak or sahadak (Tatar) – archery set: bow in its case and quiver with arrows.
394
  Bunchuk (Tatar) – a pole decorated with horse tails etc., which served as symbol of
power of oriental rulers as well as hetmans of Ukraine and Poland.

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forced from the bench and were glad to gett to the shatra.
In the meane tyme Bruchovetsky his brought [sic], after which the
Cosakes of his party thronging forward to the place where Somko with
{170} his bunshuke was, and forced him and his party from the place,
broke the staffe of the bunshuk and killed the bearer thereof. There was
such a tumult and confusion that had not Coll. Strasburgh throwne
some hand granadoes among them, they had overthrowne the pavilion,
but these makeing roome, the dead and wounded were left on the place,
and Somko getting to his horse, returned to the leaguer with his party in
some confusion. Somko his bulava395 and kettle drums were also taken by
Bruchovetsky his party.
Bruchovetsky went into the shatra with the bishop and okolnitze and
consulted about the business. In the meane tyme Somko sent to the okol-
nitse, desireing the dead body of bunshuk bearer and the wounded persons
to be given out, which was immediately ordered. He desired also justice
over those who {170v} had killed and wounded his people. The okolnitse
returned answer that Somko his owne people had occasioned the tumult
by running with their armes to make him perforce hetman.
The okolnitze sent on Vasily Nepshin to Somko and his colonells to
desire them to come to the shatra in a peacable way, which they refused,
saying they durst not, lest they should be killed as Somko his brother in
law the bunshusnik396 *and that they had chosen a hetman already*397. So
Bruchovetsky was convoyed to his leaguer with a trowp of horse.
June 18. The okolnitse with the bishop and all the regiments being come
out to the shatra, two officers were sent to Bruchovetsky and Somko, that
they with colonells and other officers should come to the shatra, and the
common people conveene in the field, all without armes, which they prom-
ised to do. After some stay, whilst they were makeing ready, the most of
all Somko his people went over to Bruchovetsky, which he seeing offered
with some few to escape, but being persued by {171} his owne people,
he retired in the Russe leaguer, where he was received with his colonells.
395
  Bulava (Russian and Ukrainian) – mace, symbol of hetman’s power.
396
  Bunchuk-bearer.
397
  These words were added after the next phrase.

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Vashouta a litle befor was by permission gone into the towne and brought
his mother, wyfe and children into the castle to Michael Michaelo[vich]
Dmitreuf398.
The okolnitse seeing few with Somko and fearing lest, when the Cosakes
should come to the counsell, they should demand him with his adherents
to be given out and kill them, by their owne desire sent them, being about
150 masters and servants, with a good guard of horse and foot to the castle.
Bruchovetsky stayed a long tyme ordering his new come people, and
being sent to, that he with his people should come to the shatra with or
without armes, he answered that [he] and they all should come without
armes. So the horsemen with their collours but without armes marched
and ranged themselves in a halfe moone with the points towards the
shatra. Then came the czerna399 or common people a foot without armes
and were ranged w[i]t[h]in the horse. All being ready, Bruchovetsky gave
notice, so the okolnitse with the bishop and towarises400 went out a foot with
a guard of partizans to the middle of the ring, whither Bruchovetsky with
all the colonells, sotniks, {171v} attamans, yesauls401 and other came a foot
and declared that they had chosen Bruchovetsky for hetman. The okolnitse
desired him to go round with his bunshuk, which he doing, all the collours
as he went by bowed to his bunshuk, and by throwing up their caps testi-
fyed their consent and acceptance.
So the okolnitse with the bishop went into the shatra, whither
Bruchovetsky being also come, he was desired to go to the saborna402 or
cathedrall church and with his colonells, sotniks etc. take the oath of fidel-
ity and receive his M[ajesty’s] commission. He said he should be presently
ready, being forced to stay a litle to pacify the common people who would
needs have Somko and Zolo[ta]renko with their adherents delivered to
them. Afterwards all went into the towne, and the hetman tooke the oath
of fidelity in the cathedrall church and kissed the Evangell. That day and
398
  M.M. Dmitriev, stolnik, voyevoda of Nezhin (Nizhyn) in 1663.
399
  Chern’ (Russian) – commonalty.
400
  Tovarishch (Russian) – comrade; in the 17th century it often meant a voyevoda’s assist-
ant or deputy.
401
  Senior Cossack ranks.
402
  Sobornaya (Russian) – cathedral (adj.).

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the next the colonells and other officers of the Cosakes tooke their oaths.
The hetman, after he had taken his, received from the okolnitse his M. com-
mission written most in gold letters upon parchment, when all the guns
were fyred from the castle and towne.
{172} The hetman, to show his fidelity and good will to his Ma-tie
and people, proposed a way for maintaining his Ma-ties garrisons in the
Ukraina, and that the pleugh money usually payed to the King of Polland,
and cornes which the colonells had appropriated to themselves, might be
converted to that use, and that 15 verst round about the garrisons might be
allowed to the governours and officers for feeding of catle and mowing
of hay, and that obroke403 might be taken from the milnes etc., which was
very well taken at court.

Bruchovetsky went with his Cosakes from Cropivna, and thereafter the
Russe regiments marched with the okolnitze from Nizin to Putivly.
Bruchovetsky his competitor Somko with Zlotorenko and others,
haveing been detained prisoners in Nizin by the hetmans desire, were
thereafter upon his writeing to Mosko ordered to be delivered to him; who
caused conduct them to Borzna, and after a short {172v} process chop
of their heads404, to the great discontent of many of the better sort of
the Cosakes, who lookt upon them as persons of great merit, being good
souldiers, and thought they had gott too hard measure for preserving the
Czars interest on this syde of the Dneper the three years bypast, against
all force and other temptations.

I being in Mosko all this tyme, solaced my self with good company in a
sober way, and especially with Generall Dalyell, with whom I entred and
entertained a strict friendship.
Haveing about a hundred ducats left of six which I brought along with
me, I caused make for my self a gallant suit of cloaths with all things con-
forme, which cost me near so much.

403
  Obrok (Russian) – rent.
404
  Briukhovetsky’s opponents were executed on 18 September 1663.

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 1663 181

{173} July 1, Wed. I did writt to Lt. Generall Drummond in Smollensko,

giveing him notice of what passed and desireing him to do his best for the
releasment of Coll. von Bockhoven.

Generall Dalyell, haveing stayed some weeks in the Slabod discontented,

was at last courted to comply. So, being reconciled to the boyar, he gott
satisfaction and went into the towne.

Affonassy Lawrentiovitz Nasczokin, a favourite of the Czars, haveing

been sent into Polland, returned with small satisfaction and gave notice
that great preparations were makeing in Polland for an invasion.

10. I received a letter from Lt. Gen-ll Drummond, dated Smol[ensk] 1 July,
being an answer to myne of the 15 Junii.

{173v} July. Wee haveing had great apprehensions of the Polls intend-
ing an invasion, Kniaz Jacob Kudinikovits Czerkasky405 was ordered and
went from Mosko towards Shewsky. Many were commanded to service of
all qualityes. Lt. Generall Nicol[aus] Bowman406 with his regiments went
also from Mosko. But intelligence being brought that the Polls did not
advance, orders were sent to Kniaz Jacob that he stay in the place where
commands should fynd him till his Ma-ties further orders.

Colonell Daniell Crawfuird graced M[ajor] Gen-ll.

Generall Dalyell, haveing gott satisfaction, was also dismissed to

Smollensko.

A commission was sent to Lt. Generall Drummond to treat with Statkeovits

for exchange of prisoners and makeing a cartell.

405
  Prince Yakov Kudenetovich Cherkassky (†1666), scion of a noble Kabardian family,
boyar from 1645, voyevoda, one of the tsar’s chief commanders.
406
  Nikolaus Baumann, native of Holstein, Danish subject, later full general. He served
the tsar from 1657 tо 1670.

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 182 1663

Writt to Generall Dalyell, putting in mind to use endeavours for the release
of Coll. von Bockhoven.

{174} August 7. I received a letter from Lt. Gen-ll Drummond, dated 30

July at Smol[ensk], in ans-r to myne of the 1st July.

I received a letter from Generall Dalyell, dated Smol[ensk] 8 August,

promising all in his power for the release of Coll. von Bockhoven and
giveing good hopes, seing Lt. G-ll Drummond had received a commission
to treat with Statkeovitz for the release of prisoners.

{174v} August. Writt to Lt. Gen-ll Drummond, who was gone from
Smollensko to treat with Statkeovitz, desireing him to do his best for the
release of Coll. von Bockhoven.

{175} Sept-r. Wee had notice of the English Ambassadour the Earle of
Carlile407 his arrivall at Archangell with his lady and a great traine.

Received a letter from Lt. Generall Drummond, dated the 7th 7bris, show-
ing me that their treaty was broke of.

10. Writt to Capt. James Martin in Smollensko.

The Littawish army under the command of the Hetman Pats408 came and
encamped at Meginovitz409, where haveing stayed about a fortnight and
plundered all even unto the gates of Smollensko, they marched towards the

407
  Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle (1629 – 1685), later governor of Jamaica. He
arrived in Archangel on 19 August 1663 with his wife, eldest son and suite of
nearly 80 persons. An account of his unsuccessful mission to Muscovy was writ-
ten by one of his attendants, Guy Miège: La relation de trois ambassades de Monseigneur
le comte de Carlisle … (Amsterdam, 1672, and other editions).
408
  Michał Kazimierz Pac (ca.1624 – 1682), field hetman of Lithuania from 1663 and
great hetman from 1667.
409
  Mignovichi.

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 1663 183

Ukraina in order to a conjunction with the King and Crowne army, who
were said to come by the way of Kyow. This army was about 12,000 strong.

13. Writt to the G-lls Dalyell and Drummond.

{175v} Received a letter from G-ll Dalyell, dated Smol[ensk] 25 7bris, and
another from Capt. Martin, dated ibid. 24 7bris, the first in answer to myne
of the 13, and the later in answer to myne of the 10th 7bris.

{176} Oct-r. Received a letter from Lt. Gen-ll Drummond, dated Smoll.
the last 7bris.

Maior Montegomery came to Mosko.

The Littawish Hetman Sapiga410 came with a small army and encamped
not farr from Smollensko, and with partyes plundred all the countrey to
the gates of Smollensko and Dorogobuse. Gen-ll Lt. Drummond had
orders with some regiments to march and cover or guard the countrey.

I received a letter from the English ambassador and another from Mr.
Bryan411, showing that some things were wanting for the ambassadors suit,
desireing me to provide them so quietly that no body should know. The
things were two silver trumpets with banners wherein my lords armes
(w-ch were sent me), 12 halberts or partisans with fringees of his livery
etc. I returned ans-r 2 dayes thereafter that all should be ready to content
and in due tyme.

{176v} Oct-r. Received 2 letters from Lt. Gen-ll Drummond, dated

Smol[ensk] the 21 and 25 instant, adviseing me of Coll. Bockhoven his

410
  Paweł Jan Sapieha (1609 – 1665), great hetman of Lithuania and wojewoda of Wilno
from 1656.
411
  Тhomas Bryan (†1668), English merchant in Moscow, who fulfilled some commis-
sions of the British government. He died of fever while leading a mission from
Tsar Alexey to Persia concerning the silk trade.

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 184 1663

being brought to Sklow, and that because they desire many prisoners for
him, I should procure a particular order for him, and that some prisoners
of quality might be sent to Smollensko, there being few such there.

The Boyar Peter Vasil[yevich] Seremetuf412 ordered to go to service towards

Shewsky.

The Czar himself was pleased to muster all the gentlmen and tooke par-
ticular notice of their equipage.

Haveing enquired often for Polls prisoners of quality, I at last had notice
of some sitting in Murum, whose names I gave in and desired they might
be sent for to Mosko and dispatched to Smollensko with an order to the
lt. generall to exchange them or others for Coll. Bockhoven, which was
granted acord[ingly], and an order dispatched for them.

{177} No[vembe]r. Received a letter from Gen-ll Dalyell, adviseing that the
Polls were absolute masters of all the south syde of the Dneper, and that
it is expected they will advance into the Ukraina; the letter dated Oct-r 31.

Haveing obtained the Emperour letters to G-ll Lt. Drummond to give

any prisoners the Polls desired for Coll. von Bockhoven, I did
10, 14, 16. writt to him
3 severall letters, and with the last by an express the Emp. letters with
the recommendations of the Boyars Elia Danielovitz and Kniaz Nikita
Ivanovits Odoyofsky413.

{178} Dec-r. The King of Polland, haveing mustered the army at Biela
412
  P.V. Sheremetev the Elder (†1690), boyar from 1656, voyevoda of Kiev in 1666 – 68
and 1681.
413
  Prince N.I. Оdoyevsky (†1689), boyar from 1640, voyevoda, diplomat and influ-
ential member of the Russian government. He headed the Kazan’ and Siberian
Offices in 1643 – 46 and supervised the compilation of Sobornoye Ulozheniye,
Russian legal code promulgated in 1649. This entry is followed with a blank page,
numbered 371.

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 1663 185

Czerkiew, marched towards Kyow, but being diswaded by the Cosakes

who were with him not to attact Kyow (which he might have very easyly
carryed at that tyme, it being not well fortyfyed nor guarded), he crossed
the r. Dneper above Kyow and came to Osteor, and with partyes overrun
all the countrey, then turning towards Czernichow and from thence to
Krolovets, which, with all the places not fortyfyed or wherein Russe gar-
rison were not, rendred to him and gott salvaguards.

{178v} Dec-r. Received a letter from Lt. Gen-ll Drummond, dated 7 Dec-
ris, adviseing me of the reseat of my letters of the 10th, 14th and 16 past
with the Emperours letters and recommendations of the Boyars Elia Dan.
and K[niaz] Nikita Ivan. concerning Coll. Bockhoven, promiseing now he
had orders to do all in his power for his liberty.
Received a letter from G-ll Dalyell, dated 16 10ris, adviseing of 120
prisoners of Sapiha his people brought in, giveing good hopes of Coll.
Bockhovens releasement.
Received a letter from Lt. G-ll Drummond, dated 17 10ris, adviseing
that Pats is made hetman polnoy414, that he had received a letter from Coll.
Bockhoven desireing money, which he would study to send him by a sure
occasion, and that he should labour all he could to procure his liberty.

About the latter end of Dec-r the Boyar Peter Vasiliovitz Seremetuf came
with his army to Putivli, and the Hetman Bruchovetsky, haveing been at
Nizin but with very few people, upon the Kings removal from Osteoor,
came to Baturin, where Kirila Osip[ovich] Chlopuf415 was w[i]t[h] the
Colonell Johan Strasburgh.

The circumference of the wall of Putimly is 1,928 Emperours fathoms.416

414
  Field hetman (Polish).
415
  Khlopov.
416
  There follow 10 blank pages in MS, numbered by the author 374 – 383.

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 186 1664

{179} 1664

Ja[nua]ry 1, Frid. Wee had notice that the English ambassador was keeping
his Christmas at Vologda.

Our regiment removed to Panska and Troitska slabodaes.

The Boyar Kniaz Jacob Kudinikovits Czirkasky, haveing according to intel-

ligence been ordered to march now to Shewsky then to Smollensko, but
now upon the certainty that the Littawish army was marched to the Ukraina
to joyne with the Crowne army, he gott orders to march to Coluga417 and
so forward towards the Ukraina, Lt. Gen-ll Drummond being ordered
to meet him at Bolchof418, and the Generall Dalyell with the Smollensko
army to follow and joyne Czirkasky.
The Belagrods army under Kniaz Gregory Gregoriovitz [Romod-
anovsky] according to orders marched to Putimly.

I bought a black horse from Mr. Hoffman for 30 rubles.

{179v} The Crowne army came to Gluchof and laid siege to it, makeing
approaches and mines and prepareing fascines, ladders and all other nec-
essaries for a storme.
The Littawish army, comeing by the way of Bransko419, encamped neer
Shewsky, Kniaz Jacob Kud. Czir[kassky] with the Moskoes army being
come to Bolchof.
In Gluchof Coll. Dworetsky commanded, and there in it were a great
number of all sorts of people, all very resolute to defend it to the utter-
most. So that, after some dayes spent in shooting of bombes and battering
the walls and houses with cannon, the mines being ready, they after spring-
ing of them stormed, but the mines not haveing the wished effect, they
were beat of with the loss of many men. So that, being without hopes
417
  Kaluga.
418
  Bolkhov.
419
  Briansk.

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of prevailing, he420 marched of towards Shewsky, where joyning with the

Littawish army, after some dayes stay, hearing that the Emperours armyes
were advancing from all parts against them, the sojours also being wea-
ryed and sickness breaking in amongst them, sending away their artillerie
befor and dismissing the Tartars to returne by {180} the Muravsky sli-
ach421, the King with his armyes marched the way betwixt Novogrodek and
Trubshefsky422, keeping strong arrearguards and sending out partyes well
mounted on all hands to prevent surprize.

In Mosko wee received 1,200 men to be exercized, and that in 3 dayes, and
afterwards 2 dayes more to be ready at a weaponshow to give fyre befor his
Majesty. So I with the officers exercized them on the brooke Neglin from
the breake of day till it grew darke, giveing them only an houres tyme at mid-
day to dyne, haveing gott armes and ammunition for them so much as wee
desired.

{180v} Ja-ry 14. A high place being erected in the fields by the New
Monastery of nuns423, all the foot regiments were drawne out of Mosko
and ranged a la hay424. The Stremeny regiment425 was drawne round the railes
about the theater, and our regiment, being 1,600 men in 2 battalions or
squadrons426, in a front without them. The Emperour, comeing throw the
regiments of streltsees drawne up on both sides [of] the way, went up to the
high place, 50 paire of ketle drums makeing a confused noise all the tyme

420
  King of Poland.
421
  Muravsky shliakh – steppe road, which led from the Crimea through the watershed of
the Vorskla and Seversky Donets rivers towards Livny and Tula. Crimean Tatars
often used it to invade Ukrainian and Russian lands.
422
  Novgorod-Seversky and Trubchevsk.
423
  Novodevichy Monastery, one of the best-preserved historical monuments of
Moscow.
424
  A la haie (French) – in lines along the way.
425
  Stremiannoy polk – the tsar’s personal guard, whose name comes from stremia – stirrup.
426
  Since the structure of the armed forces was still in the making, especially in Russia,
Gordon uses some military terms rather freely. At that period in Muscovy “squad-
ron” (shkvadrona) could mean units of different strength and composition, while
“battalion” was hardly used at all until Peter the Great’s time.

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upon a high place made of plankes. Then were the regiments commanded
to give fyre, which they did beginning from thes[e] next the citty, succes-
sively but very confusedly; then the Stremeny, then the selected regiments
who stood on our right hand; and when all had done, wee first fired the six
piece of cannon wee had, and thereafter the small shott, each esquadron
apart, all as it had been one shott, and so a second and a third tyme, which
pleased his Majesty so well that he commanded us to fyre once more,
which wee did to good purpose; and so being darke, wee marched of. For
our so good fireing the maior gen-ll427, who had taken no paines at all in
exercizeing the sojors, gott a large recompence, {181} and wee but stolla
miesto korme428, or a dinner sent to us. So it is that the oxen who labours the
most for the oats gett the least share of it.

I received a letter from Generall Dalyell, dated 8 Jan-ry, sent me by Lt. G-ll
Drummond (being directed to him or me), adviseing that he had upon a
letter from Coll. Bockhoven supplyed him with money.

A party of the Polls, convoyng money and other provisions to the army,
beat and the treasure taken by Coll. Strasburgh.

{181v} Feb-ry 6, Sat. The English ambassadour, haveing stayed 2 dayes

at Rostokin, and on the 5th of Feb. by a mistake of the posts, who
ran all out the Twersky way, from whence the ambassadours from all
place usually come, and where all the foot and cavalierie, so well stran-
gers as Russes, were ranged on both sydes of the way; the ambas. being
dissapointed of makeing his entry, and was necessitated to lodge with
very bad convenience in the small village Prutky, which disgusted him
very much, sending a letter to his Ma-tie, representing the circumstances
thereof, and takeing it as an affront, whereof he desired reparation befor
he should make his entry. Yet upon promise of satisfaction he prepared
for his entry. His suit was not so numerous as gallant, the liveries rich,

427
  Daniel Crawford, Gordon’s regimental commander.
428
  Stol vmesto korma (Russian) – literally, “table instead of subsistence”.

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and gentlemen all well clothed.429 He was received with great splendor
after the usuall way as to ceremonies; the Emperour himself with the
Empress with all the chieffe nobility being spectatours on one of the
gates of the citty. It was late befor he gott to his lodging, which was on
the great street in a large stone house.

{182} Feb. 11. The English ambassadour had his first audience, being
convoyed up in the usuall manner, all the presents going or being drawne
and carryed befor him; the infantery being ranged on both sydes of the
way, and the Crimlina430, or castle, full.

13. The English ambassadour had his second audience and first conference.

17. The Engl. ambas. at his 2d conference.

{182v} The King of Polland with his armyes being marched to Potshop431,
the Boyar Kniaz Jacob Kud. Czirkasky marched from Karatshof to
Brensko in orders to persue them, and the Boyar Peter Vasil. Seremetuf
with the Boyar Kniaz Gregory Greg. Romadanofsky and hetman joined
at Vorones432. They came to Koropuf433, where hearing that the Polls
were gone, they resolved to separate, the hetman going to Pereaslaw,
Kniaz Greg. to Lochwits434, and Peter Vasil. to Krolovets. The latter,
being order[ed] to joyn the Boyar Czirkasky at Potshop, was remanded
and went to Shewsky.

The King of Polland with great difficulty recovered Mohilow, haveing lost
many men, Coll. Kalksteens regiment routed and lost and himself with

429
  The Earl of Carlisle’s suite comprised some 80 persons, including his wife, son,
secretary Andrew Marvell, a chaplain, gentlemen, pages, trumpeters and other
musicians, 12 footmen and several tradesmen.
430
  Kremlin.
431
  Pochep.
432
  Voronizh, Ukraine.
433
  Korop.
434
  Lokhvytsia.

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many others taken, but this was in March.

I received a letter from Lt. G-ll Drummond, dated at Bolchof the 18 Feb.

Feb. 29. The Earle of Carlile had his 3d conference, and all with litle
satisfaction.435

{183} May. Maior Montgomery being perswaded, did marry the widdow,
sister to the m[ajor] g-lls lady.

2. According to order, I marched by day light from Koshevniky with the

regiment in 2 squadrons, with 3 piece of cannon befor each squadron, and
at 7 aclock in the morning drew up the regiment on the field betwixt the
Slaboda an[d] Pokrofska436, haveing been hindred on the way by breakeing
the axetrees and l’affuits437 of the cannon, wherewith the chancellour was
enraged and began to raile, but finding litle regard he stole away.
About 10 aclock wee marched with the regiment in good order through
the Emperours pallace yard in Pokrofsky, his Majesty with all the court
lookeing out at the windowes. The regiment was this day 780 men, many
being runnaway since wee had orders to go to service.
{183v} May 4. I tooke my leave of my ffriends and acquaintances in
the Slaboda.
Sent orders to the officers to lodge by the regiment and be ready the
next day to march.
5. Haveing taken leave of my sweetheart and her ffriends, after break-
fast I rode to the regiment in Koshevniky and causing beat a gathering, I
went to the muster or parad place, but the sojours were all gott so drunk
that I could not gett them together in three or 4 howres. And when I
435
  Carlisle was very insistent but unsuccessful in persuading the Russian government
to restore the privileges of English merchants, which they were deprived of after
the execution of King Charles I in 1649. The next four pages are missing in MS
(392 – 395 by Gordon’s numbering), so that the entries for March and April 1664
are lost.
436
  Pokrovskoye-Rubtsovo, another suburban estate of the tsars, now part of Moscow.
437
  L'affût (French) – gun carriage.

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mustered them, there were 3 or 4 score of them missing, being runnaway,

whose armes I caused seeke up in the quarters and bring to one place,
leaving Capt. Cambell (because Maior Menezes was sick) to give of the
armes and such things as were left into the Prikase.
About 2 aclock I marched and encamped betwixt a new inhabited
church or monastery and the Emperours house of Worobeyow Gora438,
or the sparrow hill, where wee fed our horses with hay, there being no
grasse as yet. From hence I sent to the Slaboda a servant with the following
notes to my sweetheart and her mother:

{184} May 5. “Dear love,

Being obliged to give notice to the maior generall of the state of the
regiment, I was glad by this to kiss your hands, and shall be ever glad of
any occasion to let you know my sincere affection. Wee encampe in the
fields and remember our ffriends there in a cup of the best liquor wee have.
Adiew, my dearest and only love, and think on him who shall be eternally
Yo[u]r loveing and constant servant
P. Gordon”

“Dear mother,
By this occasion or rather express I could not but render you most sin-
cere and humble thankes for all your goodnesses and give you assurances
of my constant duty to you, and passionate affection for your daughter.
Pray be loveing to her, and let her not be melancolly. Pray let care be taken
for healing my horse foot, and excuse such a trouble, which of necessity
I have been forced to put you to; the expences for his feeding and cure I
shall most thankfully repay. So takeing leave, I remaine
Yo[u]r most loveing and dutyfull son till death
P.G.”439
{184v} May 6. Wee marched about midday and encamped by a small
brooke, where wee had grasse, though litle, for our horses. Here the maior
generall came to us.
  Vorobiovy Gory, now part of Moscow.
438

  These are the first of Gordon’s letters fully copied into his Diary.
439

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7. Wee marched after breakfast, and because some of our sojors were
runnaway in the night tyme, wee caused most of the officers march in the
reer and flanks, which did not help but that many did runnaway this day.
Wee encamped by a brooke, haveing marched 15 verst; from hence I did
writt to my sweetheart:

“Dear love,
Be pleased to know that I am in good health, praised be God, and shall
make much of myself for your sake as well as my owne. Take you but a
good heart and be merry, and it will be a great comfort to me to heare of
it. Remember me to your brothers, to our sisters Bryan and Meverell, and
all in your howse. So farewell a 1,000 tymes, my only love, and think on
him who is, and shall perpetually remaine
Yo[u]r loveing and constant ser-t
P.S. Writt to me though but 2 lines so oft as you can”.

{185} May 8. Wee marched early and dined at a brooke, about 10 verst, and
then 8 verst further, and lodged where wee were pretty well accommodated
with grasse in a low marish ground.
I received a letter from Madam Bockhoven, desireing me not to
writt her “mother” till I shall have spoken with her husband, for fear of
misinterp[r]etation, if intercepted, and that the Polls prisoners who should
be exchanged for her husband shall be sent immediately to Smollensko.
I received a letter from Mrs. Bryan, full of kind expressions, with a
botle of Canary sack. I gott a small note from my sweetheart also.

9. Wee marched and encamped by Mosaiska440, where Captaine Dalyell441

comeing from Smollensko did meet us and stayed all night with us, by
440
  Mozhaysk.
441
  Apparently, Тhomas Dalyell, later 1st Baronet of The Binns (ca.1640 – 1702), eldest
son of General Thomas Dalyell. I found a document proving that he served in
Russia somewhat longer than his father: on 16 September 1665 “it was ordained,
if [Capt. Dalyell] remains without the regiments, to let him go to Moscow”
(RGADA, F. 233, op. 1, kniga 130, fol. 118). There is a fine portrait of him at The
Binns, West Lothian.

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whom I did writt to my sweet heart. By Capt. Dalyell received a letter from
G. Dalyell, dated Smollensko 20 Aprilis ’64.

“Dear love,
I have nothing to advise at present but that (praised be God) I find
myself very well on my march. Pray the deare love, do not grieve but
comfort thyself. Remember me to your mother, to Madam Palmer and to
our kynd sisters Bryan and Meverell, not forgetting yo[u]r brothers. I rest
Yo[u]r constant friend and ser-t
P.S. Do not faile to writt by Capt. Dalyell, being a sure occasion”.

{185v} May 11. Wee came and encamped by conveniences of wood and
water. Wee had also indifferent good grasse, a litle short of Mosaisko.
12. Wee dined by Mosaisko, from whence I did writt to my mistris:

“Dear love,
As it hath pleased God to continue me in health hitherto, so shall it
be alwayes my great comfort and joy to hear the lyke of you. My march
hath been hitherto pretty tolerable, both in respect of the way as of other
conveniences. I entreat thee, my dear love, do not debarr me of the only
now remaining comfort, of hearing from you by every occasion, till it shall
please God to send us a happy meeting, which I hope shall be shortly,
or then my witts and creditt shall faile. In the meane tyme I pray thee,
be merry and cherish thyself for o[u]r loves sake. Remember me to your
brothers, sister Meverell and all ffriends. I rest
Yo[u]r alwayes constant ffriend and faithfull ser-t
P.G.”

Writt also to her mother and to Mrs. Bryan, giveing thanks for the bottle
of sack.

{186} Wee marched through very troublesome way by reason of the woods

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and woodden bridged marishes to Wesma442, and not farr from thence
crossed the river Boristhenes. About 15 verst from this [we] were by the bor-
ders betwixt the Polls and Russes agreed upon by the treaty of Polanova443.

May 17. “Dear love,

Seing I have taken constancy for a guide and directrix of all my actions
and intentions, I will not in spight of fortune be moved by any cross acci-
dents or misfortunes. Dear love, I haveing entertained a firme assurance
of your constant affection, so I desire you to do me the justice to beleeve
that neither tyme nor distance of place shall in the least weaken my pas-
sionate inclinations for you. I am, praised be God, still in good health and
hopes, if my intelligence hold true, to see you shortly. In the meane tyme
cherish yo[u]rself and forgett not him who is and shall perpetually remaine
Yo[u]r uncheangable [sic] ffriend and ser-t”

{186v} Received a letter from Lt. Generall Drummond, giveing good

hopes of Coll. Bockhovens releasment, the King of Polland haveing given
order that both he and Coll. Monasteruf shall be brought to Sklove and
set at liberty.

Wee came to Drogobuse, and the way being better and the countrey more
pleasant by reason of the spring, all things seemed more acceptable; so
that wee came to Smollensko the 25, the maior generall being gone thither
the day befor with the quarter masters. Yet wee stayed upon the Oblonia
till near evening befor wee gott our quarters regulated.
How soone I came hither, I was informed that the commissioners had
entred upon a treaty by Krasna, about 40 verst from Smollensko.
26. I did writt to my sweetheart and her mother.
27. I received a letter from my sweetheart and another from her mother.

442
  Viaz’ma.
443
  In 1634 the Peace of Polianovka put an end to the Russo-Polish War of Smolensk,
which was a failure for the tsar. The borders determined by the Truce of
Deulino in 1618 were confirmed. Russia’s only gain was that King Władysław IV
renounced his claim to the tsar’s throne.

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{187} June 1. The first meeting of the commissioners at Crasna.

Wee had notice that Coll. James Abernethy444 was killed by Kyow, have-
ing engaged with a party of Czarnetsky his horsemen.
Wee had also notice how the Hetman Bruchovitsky, being gone over
the Dneper with an army, many townes had rendred to him; that he had
laid siege to Czehrin445 and stormed it, but Coll. Strasburgh being killed at
the storme, he marched of from it.

Captaine Dalyel returned from Mosko and brought me letters from my

sweetheart and her mother.

{187v} June 7, Tues. Writt to my sweet heart by the Russe post:

“Most dear love,

I received your letter by Capt. Dalyell and am exceeding glad to hear of
your good health. As for my self, albeit I enjoy my bodily health, yet God
knowes how farr from content and joy since so farr separated from you,
and if it were possible that thoughts could by influence infuse or procure
a sensible feeling in the object, then should you perceive how often I think
on you. Yet this is my comfort, that I cannot think on thee but with joy
and contentment, and if I chance to complaine to my self, it is neither on
love nor thee, but on our hard fortune. My dear love, cherish thy self and
remaine firmly assured of my constancy, as I of thine. I hope that God will
shortly with a full enjoyment recompence our too tedious expectation. In
the meane tyme let me heare from you by every occasion. Remember me
to all true ffriends, I being
Yo[u]r uncheangable ffriend and constant ser-t
P.S. I thank my sister Bryan for the two first words in your letter by
Capt. Dalyell“.

444
  The Scot James Abernethy (†1664) served the tsar as colonel of horse. In the early
1660s he was based in Kiev, and on 14 May 1662 took part in the capture of the
town of Obukhov, routing its Cossack defenders. His widow’s name was Anna.
445
  Chyhyryn (Ukrainian), Chigirin (Russian), Czehryń (Polish).

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{188} June 8. Writt againe to my sweetheart *by Lt. Coll. Holmes*446.

9. Writt againe by a denshik447.
I rode to Crasna to sollicite the commissioners about Coll. Bockhoven.
10. I returned from Crasna.
11. I sent a servant to Mosko with advice that the prisoners who were
to be exchanged for Coll. Bockhoven were come to Smollensko; that I had
hindred the sending of them to Crasna untill wee should be assured that
Coll. Bockhoven should be released for them.
12. I did writt by Lt. Coll. Holmes to my sweetheart and her mother.

I caused writt letters from Madam Bockhoven to all the commissioners

particularly in a very lamentable stile, desireing them to take pitty of her
and husbands condition, and procure his releasement, which I caryed and
delivered myself in Crasna.

{188v} June. The Boyar Kniaz Jacob Kudinikovitz Czerkasky, haveing

received orders at Brensko to march to Smollensko, came thither with his
army the 20th and encamped by the Dneper below the towne.

The generalls448 being come, I was oft in company with them.

At this tyme the governours in Smollensko were Kniaz Fiodor
Fiodorovits Kurakin449, his colleagues were Alexey Ivanovitz and Alexey
Petrovitz Golovins450.

22. Writt to my sweetheart and her mother by Dmitre.

446
  Marked words written instead of the crossed-out: “by the same post”.
447
  Denshchik (Russian) – orderly.
448
  Dalyell and Drummond.
449
  Prince F.F. Kurakin (†1684), boyar from 1660, voyevoda of Smolensk in 1663 – 65,
then tutor to Tsarevich Fiodor Alexeyevich.
450
  A.I. Golovin, stolnik from 1627 to 1658. A.P. Golovin (†1690), stolnik from 1658,
okolnichy from 1676, later boyar, voyevoda of   Astrakhan’ in 1680 – 84 and
Tobol’sk from 1686.

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I received letters of the 12th Junii from my sweet heart and her mother.
I rode to Crasna and sollicited the commissioners for the releef of
Coll. Bockhoven.

28. Writt to my sweet heart and her mother in the usuall straine, being ane
answer to theirs of the 12th.

Received letters from my sweet heart and her mother of the 20 Junii, being
an answer to myne by Lt. Coll. Holmes, and a letter of the 23d from sister
Bryan, all by my servant Stanislaw.

{189} I had notice by my ser[van]t and letters that on the 17th the English
ambassadour had refused the Emperours present of sables, saying it was
not fitt that he should make any advantage for himself, seing in his masters
business, for which he came, he had received no satisfaction; and that 2 dayes
thereafter the present, which at his first audience he had presented from
himself, was returned; that on the 24 he went from Mosko towards Sweden.

June 24. I rode to Crasna.

25. I returned.
26. Rec-d letters from Mosko.

28. Sent a servant to Mosko, by whom I did writt to my ffriends, inform-

ing them of the estate of effaires.

{189v} July 1. Rec-d letters from Mosko.

2. The army marched from Smollensko.
One John Bruce, haveing brought a letter from our King to the
Emperour in behalfe of Gen-ll Dalyell and Lt. G-ll Drummond for their
dimission, the lt. gen-ll went with it to Mosko.
3. Writt to my ffriends in Scotland by John Bruce.

10. The commissioners, haveing had sundry meetings by Crasna, returned

to Smollensko, and Affan[asy] Lawr[entyevich] Nasczokin went to Mosko

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for new instructions. By this occasion I did writt to my sweet heart and to
her mother, and sent some pictures to my sweetheart.
1[1]. Received letters from my sweetheart and her mother, dated the
30 Junii.

14. Writt to G-ll Dalyell in the army at Meginovits.

The army marched by slow marches towards Meginovits and then to
Sklow.

18. Writt to Mosko by Maior Butrimuf.

19. Received a letter from Gen-ll Dalyell, dated the 16th neer Cadina451,
being an answere to myne of the 14.
21. Writt to Coll. Bockhoven by Atrepiuf.
22. Rec-d letters from Mosko and Casan.

{190} Affan. Lawr. Nasczokin being returned with new instructions, a

post was sent to the Polls commissioners to desire a meeting againe in the
former place.
Orders also came for Kniaz Yury Alexeyovitz [Dolgoruky] to command
the army and Kniaz Jacob Kudinikovits [Cherkassky] to come to Mosko.

July 26. Kniaz Yury Al. Dolgorukoy marched out of Mosko in military state.

Received letters from my sweetheart and mother of the 10 and 12 instant.

Vasily Yakufleovitz Deskow452 ordered and sent to England to complaine

of the Earle of Carliles comportment here.

{190v} August 1, Moonday. The commissioners went from Smollensko in

order to their meeting by Crasna.
2. Writt to my sweetheart and her mother, and sent to my sweet heart
an crosse of amber by Jacobs ser[van]t.
451
  Kadino.
452
  V.Ya. Dashkov (†1679), stolnik, from 1677 Duma nobleman.

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3. Kniaz Jacob Kud. Czerkasky went by to Mosko and Lt. Gen-ll

Bowman with him.
4. Writt to my sweet heart and her mother and to Lt. Gen-ll Drummond
by Ro[ber]t Stewart.
I did writt to the Gen-ll Dalyell.

8. Rec-d letters from Mosko.

10. Writt to Crasna.
12. Rec-d ans-r from Crasna.
I rode to Crasna and sollicited the commissioners for Coll. Bockhoven
releasement, but to litle purpose.

15. Rec-d letters from Mosko by Demetry.

Received letters from my sweet heart and mother of the 20 and 22 July by
my servant Vasily, not very pleasing to me.

18. Wee had notice from Mosko that the Sibiersky Czarovits453, haveing
been at the Emperours hand, marched through the castle in military state.
He had with him 4 prikases of streltsees454, a squadron of the selected regi-
ments, a regiment of horse, 4 companies of the gorodovies455, van Campens
regiment, his collegue Kniaz Dan[iel] Step[anovich] Veliky Gagin and 4
peeces of cannon, and 32 field or regiment cannon with the streltsees.

{191} Aug. 19. “Dearest Heart,

I have received your letters by my servant, which I expected should
have been of another straine as they were. For you were pleased in some of
your former letters to express your self so, that the want of sure occasions
453
  After the Russian conquest of the Siberian Khanate in the 1580s, the descendants
of the last Tatar khan Kuchum came to the Russian court, embraced Orthodoxy
and served the tsars, bearing the title “Siberian tsarevich”. In 1664 this title was
held by several men.
454
  Streltsy regiments.
455
  Gorodovye (Russian) – “city servicemen”, which could mean either gentlemen (dvori-
ane), streltsy or Cossacks, in this case probably the former.

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hindred you from expressing your self heartyly and freely. But if jealousy
or suspicion of my constancy to you be your heartyest expressions, which
you would send by so sure a bearer as my owne ser-t, I know not what to
think of it.
My servant his desireing of Orlando Furioso456 without my order
needed not to have offended you so. As for sister Bryans expression,
you know her merry humor. But in case of your fathers not comeing,
if I come not to Mosko it shall be non of my fault. And as you under-
writt your self as much myne as I yours, – if you had been or were as
much myne as I yours, wee had been long ago one befor the world as
well as (in my opinion) wee are befor God. But let things go as God
pleaseth. Tyme, Fortune and your unkindnes may make me miserable
and unhappy, but never unconstant, and I wish that you had a clandesti-
nus457 here, who might observe and informe you of my behaviour, and
what pleasure I take in any female ffriends company here, and in what
pensivenes and solitude I passe the dayes and nights, then might you
perhaps, if not for {191v} love yet for pitty and charityes sake, have
compassion on me. No more but remember me to yo[u]r brothers and
to all true ffriends, I being still
Yours mor as you can or will be myne
PG”

Wee had notice that the obosny458 of Littaw was taken by a party sent from
Kniaz Peter Alex. Dolgorukoy459 his army by Witepsky.

Our army at Kopus460, from whence I had a letter from the generall.

456
  The famous Italian epic by Ludovico Ariosto (1474 – 1533). This could well be the
first mention of Orlando in Russia. It appears that Gordon asked his fiancée to
send him the book from Moscow to Smolensk, but forgot to write about it in his
letter.
457
  Spy (Latin).
458
  Obozny (Polish, Ukrainian and Russian) – in Poland-Lithuania, quartermaster general.
459
  Prince P.А. Dolgoruky (†1669), okolnichy from 1653 and voyevoda of Smolensk,
younger brother of Prince Yury Dolgoruky, who also appears in the Diary.
460
  Kopys.

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 1664 201

Aug. 22. Writt to the Gen-ll Dalyel.

I rode to Crasna to sollicite Coll. Bockhovens liberty, but had small hopes
given me.

Wee had notice how by Witepsky the Russe army under Kniaz Peter Alex.
Dolgorukoy was two regiments of streltsees ruined and a regiment of foot,
Coll. John Frank and many more killed.

{192} Aug. 29. “Dearest Heart,

When I wrote my last letter, the vindication of my constant affection
to you had distracted my senses so farr that I forgott to thank you for
the cheeses and the kind token you sent me, which I most heartyly do
by this. I am sorry that ever my constancy should have been questioned
by you. Yet, when I had recollected my self a litle better, I perceived and
assured my self that your jealousy proceeds from a true love, for accord-
ing to the Latine verse, Res est solliciti plena timoris Amor461. A short tyme,
I hope, will banish all these feares, when wee shall be made happy by a
joyfull fruition.
No more, but if my intelligence prove true, I hope to see you shortly
with your father, till which tyme in your spare houres bestow a thought
at least on him who is and shall still continue
Yo[u]r truly loveing ffriend and constant ser-t
PG”
This [sent] by L. Coll. Zeugh.

30. I rode to Crasna.

{192v} Sept-r 1, Thursday. Wee had notice that our army was encamped
by Dubrovna.
I returned from Crasna.

  “Love is a thing full of anxious fears” (Lat.). Оvid, Heroides, I, 12.

461

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*I rode to Crasna about Coll. Bockhovens business, but received small

hopes.*462
Writt to Gen-ll Dalyell by a trompeter.
3. I received a letter from Gen-ll Dalyell, dated the 30 Aug. at Dubrovna.

Received a letter from Coll. Palmer463 and therewith a 100 rubles to be sent
to Mosko to his lady.

8. Writt to my sweet heart with perswasions to move her to consent to the

accomplishment of our intentions, as also to her mother to the same pur-
pose, seing the hopes of her husbands releasment and liberty were blasted
by the small appearance of the wished for successe of the treaty, desireing
an answer by the first. These sent by Mr. Hoffman, as also the 100 rubles
to Coll. Palmers lady.
Writt also to sister Bryan to the purpose above.
{193} Sept-r 9. The commissioners at Crasna, haveing had many
meetings and conferences with the Polls to litle purpose, the pretences
and demands on both sydes being too high, the Russes thinking by their
numerous armyes to force them to a complyance, and the Polls stand-
ing on their defence, resolved to weary the Russes out of it. At last on
the 9th they had their last meeting and parted, it being agreed that the
Emperour should send ane ambassadour to the Pols Seym or parliament,
which should be shortly conveened.

13. The commissioners came to Smollensko and 2 dayes thereafter went

for Mosko.
Rec-d a letter from Gen-ll Dalyell, dated the 10th of 7ber, Dubrovna.

{193v} Sept-r 14. “Dearest Heart,

462
  This entry is crossed out in MS.
463
  Apparently, Scots Colonel Richard Palmer. He came to serve in Muscovy in
September 1661 with “other military men”, perhaps on the invitation of Gordon,
with whom he was on close terms. In 1668 he was included in the Russian embassy
to Persia to supervise the building of the shah’s vessels against rebel Cossacks.

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 1664 203

Tyme permits me not to enlarge, only know that I am in good health.

I hope, befor you have received this you have dispatched an answer to
my last of the 8th instant. If not favourable, I am resolved to endure and
submitt to a sad sentence with patience. Yet, if your sentiments be agree-
able with [mine] and your owne professions, you will by your actions and
resolutions at this tyme declare your affection to be reall. No more but,
desireing to be remembred to all reall ffriends, I rest
Yo[u]r loveing ffriend and constant ser-t
PG”

Writt to Madam Bockhoven in some humble passion and to Lt. Gen-ll

Drummond.

17. “Dearest Heart,

There is nothing more intollerable in afliction then not to know the
end thereof. I have heard of many seamen, who in a terrible tempest
lossing their hearts and abandoning themselves to despaire, have suffered
shipwrack when they have been very neer an harbor. He who, perceiving
a tempest approaching, and will not if possible put into a harbor, needs
not blame eith[er] fortune or providence if he perish. But if no port can
be reached or hoped, he who will not double and {194} ply it out against
all the efforts of wind and weather deserves the title of a faint-hearted
coward. I hope you will make good use of these concepts, for assure your
self the howres, let be the dayes, do not escape me unnumbred. I long to
hear from you in such termes as may give me hopes to see you shortly; the
contrar whensoever will be too soone. So, desireing to be remembred to
all sincere ffriends, I remaine
Yo[u]r truely loveing and ever constant servant
PG”

Sept-r 23. Writt to Madam Bockhoven in hast.

Received letters from my sweetheart and mother of the 13, 16 and
20th instant, but no satisfactory answer to myne of the 8th.
24. Writt to Gen-ll Dalyel.

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{194v} Sept-r 27. Writt to my sweetheart with an earnest desire of a

favourable answer to myne of the 8th instant.
Received a letter from Coll. Whitfuird and another from Maior
Montgomery.

Lt. Coll. Vasily Mich. Tepkin464 sent to Polland with business previous to
the ambassy to be sent to the parliament or Seym, by whom I did writt to
Coll. Bockhoven.

{195} Oct-r 1, Sat. Received a letter from Generall Dalyell, dated

Dubrovna 28 7bris.

Received a letter from Lt. Gen-ll Drummond, dated Cuckuy465 3 Oct-ris,

being an answer to myne of the 14th past, wherein he complaines of the
uncertainty of his effaires, the orders varying every [day?].
Received also letters from my sweetheart and her mother, dated Slaboda
3 instant, in ans-r to myne of the 14, 17 and 23d 7bris.

11. Writt to my sweet heart an apologeticall letter, excuseing that of the

19th Aug., to her mother also in serious termes, and giveing notice of the
reseat of theirs of the 13th, 16 and 20th 7bris by Mr. Hoffman.

{195v} Oct-r 16. Writt to my sweet heart and her mother in the usu-
all straine, and giveing them notice of the reseat of theirs of the 3d
instant.

19. Writt to my sweetheart and her mother very short letters, being in great
hast.

{196} Received a letter from Lt. Gen-ll Drummond, dated Cukuy 19 Oct-
ris, showing the unstability of the orders concerning his business.
464
  V.M. Tiapkin († ca.1682), resident ambassador in Poland in 1673 – 77, Duma noble-
man from 1681.
465
  Another name for Moscow’s Foreign Quarter, after the brook Kukuy.

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24. Writt to my sweet[heart] and her mother in a coverto to Lt. Gen-ll

Drummond.
Writt to Gen-ll Dalyell.

Received a letter from my sweetheart with a fresh lemon by Heyms.

{196v} Oct. 28. Writt to my sweetheart and mother, giveing notice and
thanks for the lemon.

Received a letter from Gen-ll Dalyell, dated Zwierowitz466 26 instant,

where the army then lay, acknowledging the reseat of myne of the 24
instant.

{197} No[vembe]r 1, Tuesday. The season of the year putting an end to

the campagnie, Kniaz Yury Alex. Dolgorukoy left the army
7. and went by the way of Smollensko to Mosko, letting of most of
the gentlmen and others and leaving Kniaz Yury Nikit. Boratinsky with a
flying army at Krasna.
Writt to my sweet heart and her mother.
8. The Generall Dalyell with the regiments belonging to our garrison
returned.

12. “Dearest Heart,

It pleaseth God hitherto to preserve me in health of body, but in what
a distraction and grieffe of mind, God knoweth best. That affection, w-ch
is tyed to circumstances or regardeth any by-respects whatsoever, is lyke
a bruised reed, to which whosoever leaneth is deceived.467 How much a
languishing love extenuateth the vitall spirits, experience hath made me
too sensible. I wait but for an answer to my former, wherein if there be no

  Zverovichi.
466

  Cf. Old Testament, 2 Kings, 18, 21: “Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of
467

this bruised reed.., on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce
it … ”

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other satisfaction as I have had as yet, you may perhaps know thereafter
that I am governed more by Reason as Passion. No more but my love to
yo[u]r brothers. I remaine,
Dearest Heart,
Yo[u]r most loveing ffriend and constant ser-t
PG”

{197v} Received letters from Mosko: from my sweet heart, dated the
4 No-ris, giveing me hopes of conforming her will to myne; from her
mother, rather enclineing to a delay as consent; from sister Bryan, telling
me truth, and that circumstances were only the hinderance, and encourag-
ing me to come and to confide in obtaining of ane happy accomplishment
of my intentions.

Received a letter from Lt. Gen-ll Drummond, giveing slow and small
hopes of Coll. Bockhovens releasment, and a letter from Maior
Mon[t]gomery, promiseing to pay the moneyes he owed me.

{198} No-r 18. “Dearest Heart,

How much your kind and loveing letter of the 4th of November hath
rewiwed me, I am not able to express. As the halfe of my lyfe and being
proceeds from the consideration of your respects towards me, so you,
showing your affection, by conforming your self and condiscending to
my just and reasonable demands, have now added double vigour to my
love. I take God to witnes, I should be as glad and willing to have your
fathers consent and presence at our wedding as you. But seing there is
no possibility nor lykelyhood of his suddaine releasement, what should
{198v} wee do? I hope and am assured that he is too judicious and dis-
creet to be offended thereat. I have done my best to deserve as well as
to gett his consent, the consideration whereof, I hope, will satisfy and
pacify him if he should be offended. I hope to see you within 8 dayes
after you have received this, and I doubt not but to satisfy you then
with the reasons of my intentions, as well as I am in the enjoyment of
your affection. In the meane tyme remember me to your brothers, and

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 1664 207

remaine you assured that I am, whilst I breath,

Dear Heart,
Yo[u]r truly loveing ffriend and constant servant
PG”

Writt to my sweethearts mother and sister Bryan in a stile agreeable with

their expressions, and giveing them notice of my resolutions of comeing
to Mosko.

{199} Writt to Lt. Gen-ll Drummond and Maior Montegomery.

His Ma[jes]ties letter came to lett of M. Gen-ll Crawfuird to Mosko, and

because it was written therein that the command of the regiment should
be given to me, I was much troubled about my getting of to Mosko.
At a feast by the generall, where all exceeding merry.

The Polls prisoners who had been sent to Smollensko for to be exchanged
for Coll. von Bockhoven, who had been so expensive to us in bringing
them so farr, by the corruption of the governour or his colleagues had
obtained an order to be released for other prisoners Russes. Whereof I
haveing notice, went to the councell house and protested, and did not
go from thence untill I gott an order to have them remanded, and in the
future not to be set at liberty but for Coll. Bockhoven, according to his
Ma-ties former order.

{199v} No-r 25. Maior Gen-ll Crawfuird went to Mosko, by whom I did
writt to my friends, assureing them of my comeing.

{200} I obtained by the help of Gen-ll Dalyell liberty to go to Mosko and

prepared my self to go.

No-r 30. I went from Smollensko, and without any extraordinary

occurrences on the way came to Mosko the 6th of December, on which
day

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Dec-r 6. I was at his Ma-ties hand with the maior gen-ll.

I lodged by my sweet heart, but had litle assurance to hope to attaine the
accomplishment of my desires in hast, and that not by the will of these
who were neerest concerned, but by the maliciousnes of others who were
averse or perhaps envyed our content.

{200v} Many ffriends came to welcome me.

Madam Bockhoven getting 20 rubles monthly of her husbands pay, it
was detained from her 4 months for a 100 rubles, which had been given out
of the treasure to be sent to her husband. Wherefor by her desire I went to
Elia Danielovitz and gave him a petition about it. He presently ordered the
money to be given to her, and not to seeke the 100 rubles any more.

Dec-r 19. The Patriarch Nicon came to Mosko in the night tyme and went
into the Sabor church, tooke the holy posoch and made a speech to the peo-
ple.468 The Boyars Odoyofsky and Dolgorukoy with Dementy Bashmakof469
were sent to him to command him away, which he did, flinging downe a
paper and cursing. He was followed and guarded by a reg-t of streltsees
untill he restored the posoch.
Lt. Gen-ll Drummond have long sollicited in Mosko for his owne
and the generalls freedome, and being sometymes promised it, and
other tymes denyed, at last with great solliciting, by the intercession of

468
  Nikon (1605 – 1681), Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, whose reforms led to the
schism in Russian Orthodox Church, renounced his office in 1658. On the day
given he suddenly, without the tsar’s knowledge, arrived in the capital from the
Resurrection monastery. The Kremlin rose in “turmoil, as if news had come of
the Tatars or Poles near Moscow” (S.М. Soloviev, Sochineniya. Kniga VI (Мoscow,
1991), p. 237). This move hastened the condemnation of the disgraced prelate
by the Church council. Sobor is Russian for cathedral, and posokh is crozier, here
meaning the one that belonged to St. Piotr, first Metropolitan of Moscow.
469
  Dementy Bashmakov (†1705), dyak from 1654, head of the tsar’s Privy Chancery in
1656 – 64 and of the Army Office (Razriad) in 1664 – 69, dumny dyak from 1664,
keeper of the seal from 1676, and Duma nobleman from 1684. Though only a
secretary rather than an aristocrat, he had the ear of Tsar Alexey and was one
of the most powerful men in the government in the middle years of that reign.

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Affonassy Lawrentiovitz Nasczokin and Kniaz Yury Alex. Dolgorukoy,

it was granted, and the generall sent for to come to Mosko, who came
the 20th instant, and so with good company and content wee kept our
Christmasse together.

{201} In this moneth a comet was seen many nights in the south east with
the rayes upward.

This yeare in the month of August a treaty betwixt the Roman Emperour
and the Turkish Sultan was concluded for 20 yeares treues on the follow-
ing conditions or articles470:

1. This peace shall continue 20 yeares, and be prolonged befor the expire-
ing thereof.
2. All knowne prisoners shall be reciprocally exchanged.
3. Transilvania shalbe left in the same condition as it was 30 yeares ago,
as well in civill as in ecclesiastick effaires; all Turkish garrisons removed
from thence, and non to be kept or put in in the future. As also the Roman
Emperour shall remove his garrisons out of Samoswiwar, Kywar, Bethlem
and Hust471, and deliver these places to the Prince of Transilvania.
{201v} 4. The Prince Abaffi472 shall be acknowledged by both
Emperours for Prince of Transilvania and confirmed therein, he being
notwithstanding to pay to the Turkish Sultan the usuall tribute, which his
predecessours have payed formerly.
5. Three of the 7 districts which are betwixt Transilvania and the
river Tibiscus, wherein are the cittyes Zathmar, Kalo, Karoli, Nagibania,
Etsshed and Tokay473 shall remaine to the Roman Emperour as King of

470
  Treaty of Vasvár (Eisenburg), signed on 10 August 1664.
471
  Gherla, Chioar and Beclean, Romania, and Khust, Ukraine (Hungarian: Szamosújvár,
Kővár, Bethlen and Huszt).
472
  Mihály I Apafi (1632 – 1690), prince of Transylvania from 1661. Initially a protégé
of the sultan, to whom he paid a tribute of 40,000 ducats, he later recognised the
sovereignty of the German Emperor.
473
  Satu Mare, Romania (Hungarian: Szatmár), Kálló, Károly, Baia Mare, Romania
(Hungarian: Nagybánya), Ecsed and Tokaj.

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Hungaria. The other 4, wherein ar Waradein, Karansebes, Lugas474, S. Job

and other places, shall remaine to the Turkish Sultan, because that the
same since the yeare 1658 have been by the Turkes taken from Ragotsy his
souldiers, who being enemyes to both were garrison’d therein.
6. Newhausell and Novigrod475 shall also in the same manner remaine
to the Turkes, and Zekelheid476 shall be restored to the Rom. Emp., which
if the Rom. Emp. will demolish, the Turkes shall demolish Newhausel,
and the Rom. Emp. may if he please fortify Lewents, Neutra, Shinta
and Gutta477, and to build a new fort on the other side of the r. Donaw
betwixt Comorrha478 and Newhausell, as also to erect a new fortress on
the r. Waag by Schila479 betwixt Schinta and Gutta, such as the Emperour
pleaseth.
7. The inhabitants in the land from the rivers Gron, Neutra and Waag
to the K[aiser]s-Marck shall remaine in their former free condition, and
no wayes obliged {202} to do homage or pay contribution to the Turkes,
and by both partyes under the highest paines all excursions and robberies
prohibited.
8. The fort New Serinwar480 shall be demolished.
9. From both partyes shall splendid ambassyes be sent with rich
presents to the value of 200,000 florens, and that very soone, for the bet-
ter confirmation of the peace, which ambassadours shall [be] from both
partyes received by Comorrha.

The Hungarians were very much discontented at this agreement.481

474
  Oradea (Hungarian: Nagyvárad, German: Grosswardein), Caransebeş and Lugoj
(Hungarian: Karánsebes and Lugos), Romania.
475
  Nové Zámky, Slovakia (Hungarian: Érsekújvár, German: Neuhäusel), and Nógrád,
Hungary.
476
  Săcuieni, Romania (Hungarian: Székelyhíd).
477
  Levice (German: Lewenz), Nitra (German:Neutra), Šintava and Kolárovo (before
1948 Slovak, Hungarian and German: Guta), Slovakia.
478
  Komárno, Slovakia (Hungarian: Komárom, German: Komorn).
479
  Šaľa (German: Schelle) on the Váh river, Slovakia.
480
  Novi Zrin (Hungarian: Zrínyiújvár), Croatia.
481
  One blank page follows in MS (number 436).

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{203} 1665

Jan-ry 1, Sunday. Colonell Kalkstein being prisoner here in Mosko, and

hopes given that Coll. Bockhoven might be releeved for him, I was diverse
tymes by him about that business, but found no ground or assurance, and
that he was a vaine and unconstant man.

Gen-ll Dalyell and Lt. Gen-ll Drummond, haveing with much sollicitation
and difficulty obtained their liberty, passes and letters to the governour of
Smollensko for letting them go from thence the safest way to Riga unmo-
lested, made preparations to be gone.

{203v} Jan-ry 10. Writt to my father and ffriends in Scotland.

11. The G-lls Dalyell and Drummond went from the Slabod towards
Smollensko. Wee convoyed them to the Neglin by Troitza Slaboda and
drunk heartyly at parting.
Writt to my father, unkle and brother John482 in Scotland.
12. Coll. Kalkstein escaped out of prison. Artemon Serge[yevich
Matveyev], coll. of the streltsees, came to the Slaboda and made a proclama-
tion concerning his escape, telling that none should presume to harbor or
assist him.
{204} The tyme of my license to stay in Mosko being expired, and
small hopes of obtaining that I came for, I began to resolve of return-
ing to Smollensko. At least I made a fashion of preparing to be gone, yet
with a resolution, albeit I should not prevaile, to remaine constant in my
affection.
13. Madam Bockhoven, seeing me makeing preparation to be gone,
and being afrayed that I should either breake of or grieve too much,
haveing consulted with her ffriends, resolved at last to give me her

  The author’s younger brother, John Gordon (ca.1637 – after 1698). “Unkle” is prob-
482

ably James Gordon, younger brother of Patrick’s father.

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 212 1665

daughter. And so Coll. Bockhoven483 and I went to the Hollands minister,

desireing to be proclaimed the next Sunday. So wee were resolved to
have the wedding on the 26t[h] instant, and to have but very few people,
yet musick.
This same day I had notice that an order was sent to stop the gener-
alls upon the acco-t of their being {204v} privy, if not contriveing the
escape of Coll. Kalkstein, and I verily thought it was a trick contrived
by the Russes to lay such a blemish upon the generalls to occasion their
stay, and that they had with Joseph caused put a cup in Benjamins sack484.
For the better sort of the Russes were hugely displeased with their dimis-
sion, especially Elia Daniel[ovich], the Emperours father in law, was in the
highest degree irritated (haveing opposed their dimission w[i]t[h] all his
power), but Dolgorukoy and Nasczokin, to whom they made seasonable
applications, prevailed with his Ma-tie to dismisse them.

{205} Jan-ry 15, Sun. I received a letter from Lt. Gen-ll Drummond,
wherein he informes of haveing notice that a stolnik called Kirila
Ilistarkovits485 in Smollensko had by orders from Mosko gone to the gen-
erall and his klets486 or storehouses, had valued what quantity of all sort of
graine was in them, and sealed all too for his Ma-ties use; desireing me to
go to Affon. Lawr. and entreat him to informe his Ma-tie of the businesse
and procure a letter to the stolnik whereby they may be unmolested. And
2 howres thereafter another letter jointly from him and the generall, both
dated at Zaareof Zayemshik487 13 Ja-ry, wherein they informe me of their
being there stopt and searched upon the acco-t of Kalkstein; desireing
me to procure an order from his Majesty by the meanes of Kniaz Yury Al.
Dolgo[rukoy] or Nasczokin for to let them pass unmolested.

483
  Cornelius van Bockhoven, uncle of Gordon’s fiancée.
484
  According to the Book of Genesis, Joseph, being unwilling to part with his brother
Benjamin, secretly ordered to put a silver cup in Benjamin’s sack, and to bring the
alleged thief to him as a servant (Gen. 43, 29 – 44, 17).
485
  Probably, Voyevoda Kirill Аristarkhovich Yakovlev (†1686/7), stolnik from 1660
and Duma nobleman from 1685.
486
  Klet’ (Russian, pl.: kleti) – storeroom.
487
  Tsariovo-Zaymishche.

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 1665 213

I went the next day and represented the business to Kniaz Yury Al. and
Nascokin, and the day thereafter procured and sent an order to lett them
go forward, which I dispatched with letters to them by their servants who
had brought me theirs. By these I invited them to my wedding.

{205v} My sweet hearts mother sickened.

{206} Jan-ry 26, Thurs. I was marryed, Mr. John Krawinkle, the Hollands
minister, administrateing the [ceremony].488
Wee had not above 30 persons at the wedding and were very merry.
27. I invited most of the ffriends againe, who came and were very
merry and joviall to the great contentment of all, my mother in law lying
bedsick.
29. I received letters from Gen-ll Dalyell and L. Gen-ll Drummond,
dated Smollensko 25 Jan-ry, wherein they informe me that they were
watched with streltsees, their goods taken from them, their cornes and pro-
visions sealed up; that they are forced to buy maintenance {206v} for
themselves, servants and horses out of the market; desireing a speedy
returne of the messenger, though without answer.
Jan-ry 30. I went to towne early and delivered the generalls letters to
the Boyars Elia Danielovitz and Kniaz Yury Alexeyovitz Dolgorukoy and to
Affonassy Lawrentiovitz Nasczokin. The first seemed not well contented,
the next said nothing, but the last promised to do his best.

Haveing sollicited some dayes without intermission, I obtained at last that

his M. letters should be sent to Smollensko to dismisse them. But Elia
Danielowitz, being mightily incensed against them for their petitioning
out of the service, and that they had obtained their dismission by others
meanes as his, caused another letter to be made ready, and many restric-
tions and troublesome inquisitions inserted therein; of which I haveing
notice, dispatched their servant in all hast with the first, giveing notice of
the other and adviseing them to make all
  At that time no Roman Catholic priests were allowed to stay in Russia, so that
488

Gordon and his bride had to do with a Protestant minister.

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{207} Febr-y 1, Wed. hast possible to be gone, befor the other letters
should come.

My mother in law her sicknes encreasing, and I being pressed by a

wicked, malitious diack to be gone to my garrison, was in some perplexity.
Yet, resolving to postpone all respects to his Ma-ties service, prepared for
my departure, which grieved my mother in law exceedingly, she not being
able to perswade me to petition for longer tyme. Yet by her great importu-
nity I permitted her to send her son Charles to petition in her name for a
months tyme for me to stay, untill it should please God to dispose of her
on[e] way or other.
The child haveing presented this petition to the Boyar Elia Danielovitz
at his going up to his Ma-tie, he haveing read it above489, commanded the
writer who attended to writt another, wherein I desired to be colonell in
the place of Lt. Generall Drummond, which he presented to his Ma-tie;
who, being graciously pleased to
{207v} Febr-y 13. remember me, as also my father in law who was
still detained in prison, and so gave orders for my being made colonell.
Which being told me, I at first did not beleeve, but being commanded
to attend at the apothek the boyars comeing downe, I went, and the boyar
was pleased to call me into the apothek and there declare to me in pres-
ence of diverse great officers his Ma-ties gracious will. For the which,
according to injunction, I made 3 low reverences. At the same tyme was
Lt. Coll. Sturme made coll. in Gen-ll Dalyels place, he haveing been lt.
coll. to his regiment.
My next business was to petition for the setling of my pay, which the
boyar ordered to be 30 rubles a month, but the wicked chancellour wrote
downe but 25.

{208} Febr-y. I had notice by an officer come from Smollensko that the
generalls immediately after the reseat of my letters, following my advice,
had made hast and were gone by the way of Plesko to Riga.

489
  In the tsar’s palace (Russian: Verkh, whence naverkhu – above).

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 1665 215

I desireing my dispatch to my regiment in Smollensko, was told by the

boyar that his Ma-tie had ordered me to stay in Mosko, whereat I was not
well satisfyed, not loveing to ly idle, yet must be content.

Maior Menezes his bedfellow going to Smollensko, I did writt by her to

Maior Menezes and others, desireing M. Menezes to take account of my
things left in Smollensko, sell such as could be sold, and such as were fitt
for this place, especially my bookes, to be sent hither.

{208v} March 1, Wed.490

I received a letter from Maior Menezes, dated Smollensko 9 Martii, give-

ing me an acco-t of my things left in Smollensko, which I answered
two dayes thereafter, and writt also to the maior generall by Nicolay
Arshinefsky.

Received a letter from Lt. Gen-ll Drummond, dated at Plesko the

14th of March, fraught with kind and obligeing expressions, which I
answered by the next post. Writt also to my father, unkle and brother
John491 as also to W-m Fryer at Elsenure.
490
  Here and below Gordon marks the first day of the month, but the following entries
obviously relate to later dates.
491
  There is an important charter, dated at Auchleuchries on 23 March 1665, whereby
Patrick Gordon’s father, John Gordon of Auchleuchries, “granted to Marie
Ogilvie, his spouse, in conjunct fie and lyfrent dureing all the dayes of hir lyftyme
after his deceiss, and to Patrick, James and Alexander Gordones, his sones, ther
aires and assigneys equallie amongst them after the deceiss of himself and the
said Marie Ogilvie, in fie and heritage, the westsyde of the said Johne Gordone of
Auchleuchries his toune and landes of Westertoune of Auchleuchries, presentlie
occupied by the said Johne Gordone of Auchleuchries himselff. Sasine was given
by Johne Gordone younger in Wester Auchleuchries, as bailie of the granter, to
James Gordone, fourth laufull sone of the granter, for himself, and as actornay
for the said Marie Ogilvie, his mother, and Patrick and Alexander Gordones, his
brethren, on the third day of March 1665” (Passages from the Diary of General Patrick
Gordon of Auchleuchries, p. 210). This, as well as the news of Alexander’s death, was
soon communicated to Patrick, so that his request for leave to go to his homeland

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{209} April 1, Sat.

Received a letter from Maior Gen-ll Crawfuird, dated Smollensko 3 Aprilis.

Received 15 rubles from Ivan the Tartar, which Maior Menezes sent me
for things sold there.

15. Writt to Gen-ll Dalyell, Lt. Gen-ll Drummond and to my dear father
by Coll. Trawrnicht, who went from hence to England.

{209v} May 1, Moond.

Writt to the M. Gen-ll Crawfuird by his lady.

My brother Alex[ande]r dyed in Scotland in Aberdeen of a hott feaver

and was buryed in the Cathedrall church of Old Aberdeen, just befor
the place where the high altar had stood, all that part of the church being
demolished by the deformers; which was a great grieffe to our parents, he
haveing been a compleet youth.

{210} May 15. Writt to my father, unkle and brother John.

Received a letter from Maior Menezes, dated Smollensko 22 of May, with

my bookes and other things unsold, all by Lt. Coll. Drummonds servant.

{210v} June 1, Thurs.

Received a letter from Lt. Gen-ll Drummond, dated Riga 25 May, giveing
notice of the reseat of myne of the 15th Aprilis.

10. Writt to the Gen-lls Dalyell and Drummond.

in August (see below) had to do with urgent necessity to settle his family affairs.

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 1665 217

Doctor Thomas Wilson came to Mosko and lodged by Doctor Collins.

But because the pestilence was in England492, and he should have holden
the quarantaine befor he came to the citty, he with one Kenedy who came
with him were sent back to stay at Klin, 90 verst from hence, and Doctor
Collins to Veschrescziansky493, 40 verst, where they were [to] remaine 6
weeks; where all who conversed with them had liberty to go and come
from Mosko, but themselves not. An odd kind of quarantaine!

Vasily Yak. Deskow returned without satisfaction {211} as to his com-

plaint against the Earle of Carlile, haveing had but a cold reception; yet by
the bounty of the King at his dismission recompenced.

Received letters from Riga from Gen-ll Dalyell, dated the 4th of June, and
from Lt. Gen-ll Drummond, dated the 8 Junii, giveing me notice that they
were a departing from thence.

{211v} July 1, Sat.

6. Writt to my father, unkle and brother John, to Gen-lls Dalyell and

Drummond by Coll. Whitefuird.494

{212v} Aug. 1, Tues.

{213} I gave in a petition, desireing to be let of for England for a tyme.

{213v} Sept-r 1, Frid.

492
  The Great Plague broke out in London in November 1664 and raged until the
spring of 1666, claiming nearly 100,000 lives. It was probably the worst since the
Black Death. This led to the tsar’s ban on English trade in Russia, which became
a crucial diplomatic issue during Gordon’s visit to Britain.
493
  Voskresenskoye.
494
  Two blank pages follow, numbered 454 – 5.

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 218 1665

{214} Sept-r 17. Writt to M.G. Crawfuird and Maior Menezes in

Smollensko.

I with others petitioned for places in the Slabod to build on, and that in
the Inoshemsky Prikase, which was not usuall,495 and had it granted; and the
stolnick of the Slabod ordered to measure the places and give us them.

{214v} Oct-r 1, Sund.

I received a letter from Maior Menezes, dated Smollensko the last passat.

Received large letters from Gen-ll Dalyell and Lt. Gen-ll Drummond,
dated Hamburgh 29t[h] 7bris, giveing me notice of the reseat of myne of
the 6th July by Coll. Whitefuird, as also a large and particular relation of
the passages and state of effaires in Cristendome.

{215} The Emperours father in law Elia Danielovitz Miloslavsky by a

great passion gott an apoplexy, and sickening, lost his memory and in a
manner all his understanding.

{215v} No-r 1, Wed.

{216} No-r 23, Thurs. My wyfe was delivered of a daughter about 3 aclock
in the afternoone.

28. My daughter was baptized by Mr. John Krawinkle, Hollands minister,

Colonell Cornelius von Bockhoven being godfather, Col. Nicolaus von
Staden his lady and the widdow of Lt. Colonell Sohey496 being godmoth-
ers. She was christened by the name of Katherine Elizabeth.

495
  The affairs of Moscow’s Foreign Suburb were supervised by the Embassy Office,
not the Foreigners’ Office (Inozemsky prikaz).
496
  Souhay. This French-speaking family was closely related to the Bockhovens.
Elisabeth Souhay, first cousin of Gordon’s wife Catherine, later married the
Genevan François Lefort, favourite of Peter the Great.

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{216v} Dec-r 1, Frid.

{217} Received a letter from Lt. Gen-ll Drummond, dated Hamburgh 8

Dec-ris, desireing me to rectify and justify him in some things which had
been spoken of him in his absence.

Dec-r 25. Writt to Maior Gen-ll Crawfuird in Smollensko.497

{218} 1666

Aprill 19. The Prince of Georgia called Nicolay Davidovits498 received

with state (pomp) in Mosko.

{218v} May 1, Tues.

{219} May 29. My new house being ready, all his Sacred Ma-ties sub-
jects of the best quality were invited to celebrate his Ma-ties birth day499
therein. And being come, wee were all very merry till after dinner Maior
Montgomery and I gott a quarrell, he being much in wrong and very injuri-
ous to me, which not to disturbe the company upon such a day I passed,
and wee promised to meet the next day and decide it by duell on horseback.
30. I arose early (though very sick with the yesternights drinking) and
sent to Maiors Burnet and Landels to be my seconds, and being come my
self alone, without any body to Maior Landells his quarters, who could not
gett ready, I perceived M. Montgomery in the fields and Lt. Coll. Hugh
497
  There follow seven blank pages, numbered 465 – 471. The next twelve pages
(472 – 483) are missing in MS, so that the entries from January to mid-April 1666
are lost.
498
  Prince Nicholas (1642 – 1709), who, as Heraclius (Erekle) I, became king of Kakheti
(1675 – 1676, 1703 – 1709) and Kartli (1688 – 1703). He was raised at the Romanov
court, being known as Tsarevich Nikolay Davydovich. In 1662 he returned to
Georgia to claim the crown of Kakheti, but was defeated by a rival and fled back
to Moscow, where he remained in high favour.
499
  King Charles II is quite clearly meant here, not the tsar, as formerly thought by the
Diary’s Russian translators and historians.

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Crawfuird with him and 3 or 4 servants. Wherefor I hasted towards him,

but because it was plowed land and deep and too near the Slabod, I desired
to go further of to better ground.
Being come about a musquet shott farther to a very convenient place,
wee parted, and carreering to another, fyred both very neer together with-
out any harme. I turned short (my horse being well managed), but his
carrying him away, I followed and {219v} albeit by the law of armes and
duelling I might have taken him at such a great disadvantage, yet I stopping
my horse called to him to returne. When he gott his stopped, and comeing
towards me, he called to me saying, “Wee shall kill on[e] another, let us
fight it out on foot!” I told him I was content any way. So alighting, I gave
my horse to one of his servants (haveing none of my owne), and have-
ing halfe stockadoes500 both, I threw of my coat. But he denying to fight
with me with a halfe stockad, and there being no broad sword there but
Lt. Coll. Crawfuirds, they sent in to the Slabod for another, against which I
protested, desireing to fight it out with such weapons as wee had, and by
right I haveing the choice, and offered him the choice of the stockades.
But all would not do. So, befor the other broad sword was brought,
Mr. Annand and diverse others came, and would not let us fight, so
wee went of the ffield without agreeing, and promiseing to meet the
next day or another tyme. Yet in the afternoone the English merch-ts
agreed us.

{220} June.

In the beginning of March was the great sea-fight betwixt the English and
Holl[anders].501

15. Writt to ffriends in Smollensko p[e]r Coll. Crawfuirds ser-t.

500
  A kind of thrusting sword (cf. estoc).
501
  This entry is crossed out in MS. In fact, the so-called Four Days’ Battle, the greatest
naval action of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, was fought at the beginning of
June (1st to 4th O.S.) 1666. It brought victory to the Dutch fleet under Admiral
Michiel de Ruyter.

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{220v} June 22, Frid. I was sent for to the Possolsky Office, but comeing
late, was ordered to come the next day.
23. I went to the Possolsky or Ambassy Office, where the dumny
diack502 asked me if I had a mind to go for England. I told him, “Yes”.
He told me that his Majesty was to send a letter to the King, and that
I should take that along with me. I replyed that I had indeed last yeare
desired to be let of to England, but that now I had no necessity or
businesse there; and that if I should go about my owne business thither,
I could not well take such a letter with me, because it should be a shame
for me to carry a letter, not haveing any character; and that I should be
look’t upon as one in publick employment, whereby I should be put to
great charges and expences; and that, lastly, I should be tyed to expect
an answer. To which he said nothing, but that I should stay untill he
returned from his Majesty.
After an houre he came and told me that his Majesty had ordered
and commanded {221} me to go for England, and that I should make
my self ready in 3 or 4 dayes to be gone. I repeating the former reasons
and adding that I was wronged in not getting my full oklad503, or monthly
pay, according to others; and that I had had all this tyme but 25 rubles
a month whereas I should have 40; and that I wanted as the rest also 2
whole months. He told me that his M[ajesty] would allow and cause give
me money to beare my charges, and that for my other grievances I should
bring petitions and compeer to morrow.

Befor I go further, I shall show the reasons of sending this message and
of the sending a stranger, and why me and not another.
The English in their adventures at sea, haveing found out the sea port
at the mouth of the river Dwina,504 had for their losses and paines great
502
  Almaz (Yerofey) Ivanov (†1669), dumny dyak (Duma secretary) and keeper of the
tsar’s great seal from 1653, head of the Embassy Office in 1653 – 67, an expert
diplomat.
503
  Oklad (Russian) – pay or salary.
504
  The sea route from Western Europe to the mouth of the Northern Dvina, where
the port of Archangel rose later, was discovered in 1553 by the Englishman
Richard Chancellor (1521 – 1556).

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priviledges conferred on them by the Tzaar [Ivan the Terrible], especially

to trade without paying of toll or custome; whereby encouraged, they
had erected a considerable trade and kept an agent, which continued
many yeares with considerable advantage. But the Hollanders {221v}
and Hamburgers, haveing found the way hither also, began to trade with-
out any corporation, yet encreassed so that the Hollanders especially in
tyme gott great advantages of the English, and outwitted (to give it no
worse terme) the English and even trapan’d them into many things, and
then delated them. For they had gott some of the English to bring up
their goods under the notion of their owne, so to avoid the paying of
custome, whereby the Tzaar was cheated of his revenues. So that it was
in agitation by the instigation of the Hollanders and Russia merch-ts,
whom they had drawne to their party to disannull these priviledges. But
their not being sufficient proofes, and the English, forwarned, keeping
themselves closser, and by their splendid way of liveing haveing gained
the goodwill of the nobility, and those of the poorest merch-ts and
tradesmen by trusting, the business was delayed, untill the unhappy trag-
edy of the murder of King Charles the First505, whereat occasion was
taken, upon a more generous account, to banish the English and take
{222} away their privileges.
Yet afterwards they were permitted to trade, paying custome as oth-
ers, in which state they continued untill the happy restauration of King
Charles the Second, at which tyme the English conceived hopes of being
restored to their priviledges. For in the yeare 1662 the Tzaar, not to be
behind with other Christian princes, sent a splendid ambassy (and a per-
son of greater birth and quality as had been sent any where befor)506 to
congratulate Great Brittaines King his *safe arrivall and*507 happy restau-
ration; which was accepted the better because of all Christian princes the
Tzaar alone had never acknowledged, nor kept any correspondence with

505
  Charles I (1600 – 1649), King of Great Britain from 1625. His execution ushered in
Oliver Cromwell’s regime.
506
  This embassy to London was headed by Prince P.S. Prozorovsky. See above, fol.
145.
507
  Words crossed out in MS.

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 1666 223

the usurper Cromwell508; as also the King dureing his exile had received
other good offices from the Tzaar.
These ambassadours in their conferences and discourses giveing great
hopes of the restauration of the priviledges, the King sent a very emi-
nent person his extraordinary ambassadour to Mosko509 in full hopes to
obtaine the priviledges. But his Excellency, takeing himself to be afronted
at his first reception at the sea port, and then much more at his comeing
into Mosko, which albeit done by a mistake and not of purpose, he urged
the reparation thereof with too much heat. Whereupon {222v} followed
some irritations on both sides, so that the ambassadour, urging reparation
at diverse conferences and at a private audience, and not getting any to his
satisfaction, as also being denyed the priviledges, the chieffe business for
which he came, refused the presents which were sent him by the Tzaar.
Which offended his Tzaarsky Ma-tie so highly, that he dispatched a stol-
nick, Vasily Yakufleuf sin510 Diaskow, in the quality of envoy to the King
to complaine of the ambassadour; who comeing into England had but a
cold reception, and getting but 3 dayes defrayment, was permitted to live
upon his owne. Yet, the Earle of Carlisle returning into England, upon the
relation of his negotiation was justifyed, and his comportment approved;
thereafter, giveing the envoy a visitt (whereat he was much surprized),
promised his assistance for his friendlyer usage, and so out of an excess of
generosity interceeded with the King so farr that he gott full restitution of
what he had disbursed, and was dismissed honourably.
Nevertheless this envoy at his returne did so aggravate his hard usage,
that it was doubted here whither any intercourse or correspondence should
be hereafter betwixt the princes. But now, the warr which the King had
with France and Holland being like to continue, by the {223} advice of the
Moskovia merchants, the King did writt to the Tzaar by post, showing of
the warr he had with France and Holland, and how that he was informed
that the Hollanders brought much materialls for their shipping from Russia,
which he desired might not be permitted them, and that it might be free
508
  Oliver Cromwell (1599 – 1658), lord protector of England.
509
  Оn the Earl of Carlisle’s mission see above, fols. 175, 176, 179, 181 v. – 182 v., 189.
510
  Syn (Russian) – son, referring to V.Ya. Dashkov’s patronymic.

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for his Ma[jesty’s] subjects to buy such materialls. His Ma[jesty] gave notice
likewise how that the pestilence did rage in his residentiall citty of London
and diverse other places of the Kingdome of England.511
This letter was kept very closs a while, untill they resolved upon an
answer, which being ready, no Russe was found willing to go with it, fear-
ing such cold entertainment as Diaskow had gott. For notwithstanding it
was knowne how that he had been sufficiently rewarded and honourably
dismissed, yet he atributed all this to his owne dexterity and the fear the
King had of offending his Tzaarsky Ma-tie, averring that none thereafter
would be defrayed but for three dayes, as the ministers of other princes;
that all things wer ten tymes so dear as in Mosko, and many difficulties
more. Which with the Russes unwillingnes to allow any {223v} minister
so much money as to maintaine him at any court, and also loth to offend
the Hollanders (who had now engrossed all the trade almost here) by a
publick message, it was resolved to send some stranger, and me especially,
because I had petitioned to go thither the year befor, and being one of his
Ma[jesty’s] subjects, might haply have ffriends at court.
It was in vaine for me to refuse, when concluded above by his Majesty
and counsell512. So, being ordered to come to the Prikase the next day, I
went and made ready my petitions.

June 24. I went into the Office, but there being no convenience to come
to his Majestyes hand, I was ordered to come the next day. I bought a
covered waggon and necessaries for my jorney.
25. I went into the Ambassy Office, and haveing resolved to take my
brother in law513 along with me to England, I told the chancellour, and that
he might come to his M[ajesty’s] hand with me.
About midday I was brought above and admitted to kiss his M. hand,
who was pleased to speake very graciously to me. I gave his M. two peti-

511
  This letter of King Charles II to the tsar, which led to Gordon’s mission to London,
survives in the original (RGADA, F. 35, op. 2, № 97). It is dated at Oxford on 29
December 1665.
512
  The Boyar Duma.
513
  Karl (Charles) van Bockhoven.

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 1666 225

tions, one for my full meanes and {224} another for 2 months meanes
which was owing me; and his M. was pleased to give order to my satisfac-
tion. Then he asked me why I tooke the child with me and whose son he
was. I answered that he was Coll. Phil[ipp] Albertus von Bockhoven his
son, and that it was his mothers will he should go along to see his ffriends.
His Ma-tie commanded me to have a great care of him and bring him back
with me, which I promised to do. Then his M. called the chancellour and
spoke to him, who turning to me told me that his M. had graced me with
a hundred rubles for equipping me, a 100 rubles for my jorney and a 100
rubles of my pay in advance514, and so dismissed me.
I waited in the Office till the chancellor came downe, who being come,
ordered mandates to be sent to the treasury for money, and gave that
petition for the 2 months to me with an order on it to receive for these 2
months full pay; and notwithstanding I insisted to have an order on the
other petition for setling my pay for the future, I could obtaine nothing
of the cross grain’d old crabbed fellow, but that when I returned I should
gett a full order. So that, there being no possibility of makeing any address
to his M. immediately, and o[u]r {224v} boyar being sick, no other would
medle in it, I was forced to be content with that they gave me.
June 26. I made ready for my jorney and bought diverse necessaryes,
and in some places tooke my leave.
27. The money was brought to me, with his M[ajesty’s] letters and
instructions.515 Afternoone I was in towne, ordered some business and
tooke my leave there.
514
  According to Embassy Office accounts, “In the year 174 [1666], by ukase of the
Great Sovereign, Colonel of Horse Patricius Gordon was sent with his, the Great
Sovereign’s, letters to the English King. Аnd for that mission he was given the
Great Sovereign’s pay of assistance and to the office and of subsistence money,
300 rubles in all. And to him as well for his urgent mission [given] from palace
stores 7 poods of raw mead, 10 buckets of noble wine” (RGADA, F. 159, op. 2,
№ 187, fols. 4 – 5).
515
  Russian sources on Gordon’s mission to Britain, including the text of the tsar’s let-
ter to King Charles II dated 24 June 7174 (1666) and the courier’s itinerary and
expenses, were published by S.A. Belokurov in Dnevnik Generala Patrika Gordona,
pt. II (Moscow, 1892), pp. 200 – 223, and in my own Russian edition of the Diary:
Patrick Gordon. Dnevnik 1659 – 1667 (Moscow, 2002), pp. 218 – 232.

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{225} June 28, Thur. I rode to Kuntzow516 and tooke my leave of the
Boyar Elia Danielowitz and his lady, who with others there were very kind
to me. When I came home, it was told me that a writer had been there from
the Ambassy Office, with orders to be gone the next day without faile. So
I went the same evening and tooke my leave of my neerest ffriends.
29. The podwodes517 being come in the morning, I made all ready and
haveing dined, most of the Slabodish cavaliers and many merch-ts came
and convoyed me to a bush or wood within sight of the high way or
road to Twere, where wee stayed neer two howres takeing bon valete518
with numerous cups. The ffriends returning, some of my countreymen
as Maior Langdales and Ruitm-r Kieth and others, who had gone aside
and now came on purpose to convoy me further and stay with me all
night, came to me, for whose sakes I pitched my tent short of what I had
{225v} intended. Wee had scarce setled when the English merch-ts came
with a great magazine of all sorts of liquors, with [whom] wee spent the
whole night in hearty cups and joviall discourses.
June 30. By day light, bidding farewell to ffriends, I tooke jorney laying
my self in my waggon to sleep. About 8 aclock I passed by Czirkisewa519,
where lay in the fields about a 100 officers who had been dismissed, and
very earnest (some of them at least) to have gone in my company. But
being informed of some designe, I excused it and now strived to shun
them. So, posting in hast by them without being discovered, I rode 20 verst
further and turning aside to the right hand to ane obscure place, I rested
and dined. Here I mustered up my letters and some tokens and other
things sent along to ffriends in the places and townes, through w-ch I was
to travell, as also many things and letters sent to England. Whilst I stayed
{226} here, a post overtooke me with letters from ffriends in Mosco to
merch-ts over sea.
Haveing pack’t up and put all my things in good order, I set forward,
and within 15 verst of Klin turning aside againe I lodged, haveing in com-

516
  Kuntsevo, now part of Moscow.
517
  Podvody (Russian) – post-horses and waggons.
518
  A form of bonevale (Scots) – farewell toast or greeting.
519
  Cherkizovo.

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 1666 227

pany with me my litle brother in law, Captaine W-m Rae520, Peter Pile an
apothecary, Caspar Staden and two servants with 6 yempshiks521, being in all
13 persons. This night the yempshikes kep’t watch.

July 1, Sun. I arose early and set forward, and crosseing the r[ivule]ts Sostry
and Yamoga522 I rode through the lately burnt of towne Klin, which stan-
deth on the descent of a hill and is distant from Mosko 90 verst, being
lately a stage where horses used to be changed, but now exeemed by rea-
son of their being burn’d of. I rode further and crossed a litle brooke at a
field called Yamoga, being 5 verst, and to Spassuf Sauka523 20 verst, where
I dined; then forwards to Savidova524, a vill[age] where wee had a sight of
the r. Volga, which comeing from the west runneth east, and so to a village
called Soshia525 where, being rainy weather, I lodged; here the r. Soshia,
being 15 verst.
2. Haveing notice that the disbanded cavaliers were encamped on the
other syde of the river, and not likeing their company, I rose very early
and passing the river I passed by them {226v} without noise, befor any
was stirring; and driveing forward, I dined by the vill[age] Mokry, being
about 30 verst from Soshia, haveing on the way passed by Slabodka and
seen diverse villages on the other syde of the r. Volga, and Grodisha526,
where an ancient fort from which it hath the name. Makeing hast, I came
to Twere, 20 verst, where getting fresh horse I crossed the river Volga by
boat, and turning to the left hand from the high way, I lodged in a meadow.
This Twere was once a dukedome apart, hath a stone wall, and its name
from the river Twere or Twertza, which on the other syde, a litle below the

520
  William Rae, Scottish captain, was just then dismissed from Russian army with the
tsar’s testimonial dated 3 June, stating that he “did serve faithfully, and for the said
service he was granted … his deserved payment” as “a man fit for military affairs”
(National Library of Scotland, MSS, Adv. Ch. A. 130).
521
  Yamshchiki (Russian) – waggoners or carters.
522
  Sestra and Yamuga.
523
  Spasov Zaulok.
524
  Zavidovo.
525
  Shosha.
526
  Gorodishche.

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towne, falleth in the r. Volga, and hath its rise by Visne Vloczka527.
Writt from hence to my ffriends in Mosko by the yempshiks.
July 3. Haveing been tormented the whole night with midges or mos-
quites, I tooke jorney befor day, passing through woods, and came to the
village Medno by the r. Twertza, 30 verst, where dineing, and going for-
ward, wee crossed the r. Lagovets by the village Marina, 13 verst, and came
to Torczok, 17 verst, and lodged in the Yempsky Slaboda.
{227} July 4, Wed. Haveing gott fresh horses, I departed early. I came to
Michaelofky, a brooke and a large field, 30 verst, where I dined. Afternoone
I crossed the r. Twertza at Vidropusk, being 5 verst; then to Cholocholnia
r[iver] and vill[age], 10 verst, and crossed the r. Twertza againe by Nikola
Stolb, a monastery, 7 verst, and over plaine fields to Visnego Vloczka, 10
verst, where I lodged.
5. Here I gott fresh horses and by day light I crossed the r. Tsna
[Msta]528, which keeping his course for the most part N.W., falleth in the
lake Ilmin by Novogrod. [I] came to Chotilow, 35 verst, where I dined; and
refreshing our selves once more by the r. Bresay529, 23 v[erst], I came to
Yedro, 12, and to Ziemna Gora, 17 verst, where I lodged.
6. Haveing gott fresh horses, I tooke jorney by day light, and made
a stop at the small towne Balday530, 3 verst. On our right hand is a mon-
astery in the midst of a lake, wherein are about 150 monkes, all Polls or
Littawers. The towne is also inhabited by the same sort of people. The
lake is about 6 verst broad and of an incredible deepnes, being, as they say,
in some places a 100 fathome. A litle of from {227v} that lake wherein the
monastery standeth is another of the same bignes, betwixt which a chan-
nel. Out of this last floweth a brooke or r[ivule]t, which emptyeth itself
into the Msta, as all the other r-s and brookes hereabout. From hence wee
jorneyed over hills to the r-t Grimatsa, 5 verst. On each side of this river are
many kurgans531, or mounts of earth, where they say that the battell betwixt
527
  Vyshny Volochok.
528
  Gordon crossed out the Msta River and wrote Tsna instead, although it is the
former which flows into Lake Il’men’.
529
  Berezayka.
530
  Valday.
531
  Kurgan (Russian) – mound.

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the masters and the servants was fought in the end of Tamerlanes warr,
whereof writeth [ … ]532
A litle further wee passed along in a most pleasant road, haveing
the r-t Polumet on o[u]r left hand, and hills covered with woods on our
right hand. Haveing rode 10 werst, wee crossed the r. Grimatsa againe,
where it falleth in the Polumet, and so in company of the r. Polumet
to Yasulbitsa533, a vil[lage], 5 verst. Here I dined. Then setting forward, I
crossed the r-s Polumet and Yaronj, 10 verst, which the r. Polumet receiving
falleth in the r. Pola, and this in the lake Ilmin, 15 v. above the [ … ]; then
to the vil[lage] Rechina534, 5 verst, and to the yame or stage Kresty535, where
getting fresh horses and makeing no stay, wee rode along the r. Cholova.
Crossing it diverse tymes, wee came to the r. Mosnia, 20 verst, w-ch cross-
ing wee came to the vil. Wina, 5 verst, and to Sajantsova536, 10 verst, where
wee lodged all night.
{228} July 7. Haveing gott fresh horses, wee came to the vil. and mon-
astery Lutow, 3 verst, and to the vill. Krasna Stanky, 12 verst, through woods
and bad bridged way to the r. Nissa, 10 verst, which runneth here south
and then turning falleth in the lake Ilmin 25 verst above Novogrodt. Wee
crossed this river by a float and then came to Brunits, 5 verst, where takeing
boat, wee went downe the r. Msta to Novogrod, 30 verst, where getting a
quarter I lodged all night.
8. About midday, haveing gone over in a large boat, wee sailed up the
r. Volcha to the lake Ilmin. This lake is in some places 40 verst broad and
about 50 long. It is said that 70 rivers fall therein, the chieffe whereof
are Msta, Poniedielna, Lovot, Vergot, Solona, Czarna, Verunda, Mpsiaga,

532
  This passage breaks off and its meaning is unclear. The host of Tamerlane (Timur),
who invaded Rus in 1395, reached only as far as the southern lands of Riazan’.
Possibly, Gordon refers to the legend of the war between the Novgorodians, who
returned home after a long campaign, and their serfs, which he could have read in
Herberstein’s Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii.
533
  Yazhelbitsy.
534
  Rakhino.
535
  Kresttsy. Yam (Russian) – relay station.
536
  Zaytsevo. Having lived in Poland for years and learnt Polish, Gordon sometimes
polonizes Russian words and place names (cf. Polish: zając).

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Veresa, Polist.537 Wee passed by many pleasant villages on the right hand,
and came late to the r. Mpsiaga, and so to the river Solonia, up which to
the vill. Saltzee538, which is 70 verst from Novogrodt, whither wee came in
the morning.
9. Here wee gott horses and waggons and came to the river Shitnia, 15
verst, where wee rested and refreshed our selves bathing in the river. Then,
rideing through woods, haveing the said river Shitnia on o[u]r right a great
way, wee came {228v} to a ruined village called Opochy, where wee lodged,
15 verst.
July 10. Getting up early, wee came to the village Dambrovna539,
20 verst, where breakfasting, I left my baggage and with Capt. Rae, a
ser[van]t and a yempshik rode befor and came to Lubesna, 15 verst. Then,
rideing 10 verst further, wee refreshed our selves and horses; then cross-
ing the r. Kep540, and it keeping us company a good way, wee came to
the r. Pskova, being a stony river; by which on our right hand rideing,
wee came to Plesko or Pskow, as the Russes call it, 30 verst. I enquired
here for Colonell Odovern541 his quarters, and found him lodged without
the towne. So, takeing up my quarters by him, it was late ere my baggage
came.
Rec-d letters from my wyfe and mother in law, dated Mosko 4 July.
11. I went to the Boyar Kniaz Ivan Andreovits Chovansky, who was
governour here, and delivered him his Ma-ties letters, who welcomeing me
told me that he would take care that all should be ready according to the
order. Being invited, I dyned by Coll. Gulits.
Writt to my wyfe and mother in law.
{229} July 12, Thur. Haveing been by the boyar, I went and [had]
breakfast by Coll. Kruger and dined by Collonell Shein.
13. A sotnik with 6 streltsees and podwods being come, I went and tooke
leave of the boyar, and after breakfast tooke jorney, going over the r. Velika
537
  Correct Russian names for some of these are Lovat’, Shelon’, Chornaya, Verenda,
Mshaga and Veriazha.
538
  Sol’tsy.
539
  Dubrovno.
540
  Keb’.
541
  Probably, a form of the Irish name О’Davoren.

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Reka by a fleeting bridge, and takeing the Swedish house in our way; where
with hearty cups the ffriends who convoyed me remembred ffriends and
convoyed me out into the fields, tooke their leave. Only Ruitm-r Colin
MсLaughlan542 with some horsemen went along with me. At night wee
came to the monastery and towne Petshure, wher I lodged, being 40 verst
from Plesko.
14. I tooke jorney early and came to the borders, being 9 verst, where
the ruitm-r being to take his leave, I caused make ready for breakfast and
with hearty cups remembring our ffriends, whereby the trumpets which
wee had from Plesko sounding, put the countrey in no small alarum. The
ruitm-r parting, I had in place of Captaine Rae and Peter Pile, who stayed
at Plesko, the sotnike with 6 streltsees. Wee came to Niewheusel543, a old
stone castle, 3 verst, and so forward to Roughs crue or innes, whither wee
came about 4 aclock {229v} afternoone, being from Niewheusel 5 miles.
There being bad beer in the alehouse, and hearing that the priest had good
liquor, I sent and desired a litle of it; who very civilly invited me to his
house, whereof I accepted and went. He received me very kindly and kept
me to supper, where wee had good wholesome countrey fare by a cup of
good beer.
15. I rose early and came to Vorstuf544, 3 miles, and to the Black River, 2
miles, where dined. Crossing the river by a float, wee came 3 miles further
and lodged in the fields by good convenience of wood, grasse and water,
and kept good watch all night.
16. By day light I set forward and, dineing in the woods, lodged a mile
short of Wolmar545.
17. Wee passed by Wolmar and dined at Papendorp, 2 miles from Wolmar
and 16 from Riga, and going 3 miles further wee lodged in the fields.
18. Wee crossed the r. Brasla by a bridge and lodged by the hill
Koshevnik. From hence I dispatched the sotnik with Gaspar Staden to

542
  This Highland Scot was engaged for tsar’s employ as surgeon by Colonel Andrew
Forret and arrived in Moscow in 1663. In the 1670s he was major of horse.
543
  Neuhausen.
544
  Varstu, Estonia.
545
  Valmiera, Latvia.

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Riga with letters from the governour of Plesko to that governour, order-
ing them to take {230} up a lodging for me in the suburbes.
July 19, Thurs. I came to the r. Gavia, 2 miles, which crossing, I dined
in the ffields. Then I crossed the river Jug[l]a, and rideing a mile further I
lodged in the fields, being a mile from Riga.
20. I arose early and came to Riga and lodged by the interpreter. In the
afternoone the searchers came to me, desireing to know if I had any mer-
chants goods by me. I told them that I had nothing but about 100 r[eichs]
dollers worth of sable tippes for my owne use; and because they were so
civill as not to search my trunks, wherein I had some muscus and other
things, I gave them 2 reichs dollers, wherewith they seeme[d] satisfyed and
departed.
Mr. Benjamin Ayloffe and Finlay Downy gave me a visitt, and Mr.
Herman Becker thereafter with some others, to all whome there were let-
ters and tokens.
I received a letter from Mr. Tho. Bryan, dated Mosco 5th July [16]66,
another dated 29 June, first p[e]r post, and the last p[e]r ffriend; a letter
also from Doctor Colins, dated 5 July.
{230v} July 21, Sat. My old acquaintance the governour, Lt. Generall
Fabian de Fersen546, sent an officer to welcome me, and told me he was
very desirous to speake with me, inviteing me to his lodgings. I rendred
thankes and bid tell him that I would pay my respects to him in the
afternoone.
Haveing dined, I sent for Mr. Ayloffe and desired him to accompany
me to the governour; whither being come, he received me with a great
deale of kindnes, and after much discourse of old passages he began to
insinuate the great inclination they had to preserve the peace, and seemed
to doubt of the lyke sincerity in us; and among other things told me how
that some dayes ago a party of ours had come to the borders and in
a manner of bravado had made a great noise with sounding of trum-
pets and shooting, and thereby had put the countrey in a great feare and
546
  Baron Fabian von Fersen (1626 – 1677), Swedish general and statesman, later field
marshal. Gordon knew him since the days when they both served for Sweden in
the 1650s.

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alarum. Which I considering, told him that possibly it might be a mistake,

and that it might arise from my comeing to the borders, whither some
ffriends from Plesko had convoyed me and at parting had in mirth {231}
shott some shotts and sounded trumpets. Wherewith he was satisfyed and
partly ashamed that without ground they should be so soone alarumed.
Afterwards wee began to pass the tyme with hearty cups. Parting, he sent
me home to my lodgings in a coach with servants and lacqueyes convoying
me. At my comeing to my lodging I gave to each of the better sort who
had convoyed me a ducat, and to the other a r. doller a piece – which was
by farr too much.
Writt to Mr. Bryan.
22. I dined at home with some ffriends and in the afternoone was
merry with them.
23. I exchanged a 100 rubles for r. dollers, giveing 58 copikes for a r.
doller, most whereof Hollands, which was no good bargaine.
Mr. Ayloffe hired my passage in a vessel to Lubeck for 12 r. dollers for
my self and people, and I to have the cabinet, and promised to provide
all sort of provisions for me. I dismissed the fuirmen which I had from
Plesko, and wrott with them to ffriends {231v} there, and by the sotnik to
the governour547, thanking him for his kindnes.
July 24, Tues. I did writt to Mosko to my wyfe and mother in law,
to Mr. Bryan, Doctor Colins and to Almais Ivanovitz the Dumny
Chancellour.
25. The ship being gone downe the river, I sent my baggage to the boat
which lay at the wharfe waiting for us. Here these of the custome house
stopped my baggage, exacting 4 r. dollers land toll and as much for going
out of the 100 r. d. of sable tippes; which Mr. Ayloffe payed for me, and I
repayed him at breakfast in the towne.
About 10 aclock wee went in the boat downe the river and at
Dunemunde skonce or fort made a halt, where I spoke with Capt. John
Gordon. Then going to the shipp wee made forward, haveing pilots to

  This “Scottish letter” (i.e. written in Scots) from Gordon to Prince I.А. Khovansky,
547

which survives in Russian translation (RGADA, F. 35, op. 1, № 215, fol. 42), is
printed in my Russian edition of the Diary.

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shew {232} us the way. The ship belonged to Lubeck, the masters name
Durick Ebler.
26. Haveing sailed all night, about 10 aclock wee passed by Dumes
Ness548, haveing the illand Oesel on our right hand. This Ness is 18 miles
from the mouth of the river Dwina, and very dangerous by reason [of]
the sands and flatts, so that seldome a yeare but some suffer ship wrack
here. Toward evening with a pretty gale wee passed by Silversoort549, 9
miles, and Vendaw, 3 miles. Then, quitting the Curish coast, wee stirred
our course more to the n. west towards
27. Gothland, wherof wee gott a sight the next day in the evening. This
illand is 18 miles long and is said to have at every miles end a church.
28 – 29. By contrary winds wee were forced to lavier550 2 dayes.
30. Then, the wind proveing more favorable, wee sailed forward to
the illand Oeland, which is distant from Gothland 7 miles. The south
end of Oeland is distant from Vendaw 40 leagues and from Bornholme
21. Both these illands by the treaty of Brömsebro, 1645,551 belong to the
Sweds.
31. Wee sailed by Oeland, w-ch is also 18 miles long, and towards
evening {232v} lost sight thereof. Wee had ugly unpleasant weather.

Aug. 1, Wed. Wee sailed by Erdholme, which hath a small harbour for
necessity. No body dwelleth here, only fishers come from Bornholme and
stay. Towards evening wee sailed by it and Bornholme, 3 miles distant
from it. These belong to the King of Denmarke552.
2. Wee sailed towards the Pomers coast and came in the view of the
illand Rugia553, w-ch hath 3 hookes or nesses called Wittemund, Diasmund
and Darnbush, which is divided from the illand.

548
  Domesnes (German), Cape Kolka.
549
  Swalferort on the island of Ösel (Saaremaa).
550
  Lavieren (German) – to tack or beat against the wind.
551
  The Peace of Brömsebro concluded the war of 1643 – 1645 between Denmark-
Norway and Sweden. The former ceded to the latter the islands of Gotland and
Ösel along with other substantial territories in Scandinavia.
552
  Frederik III (1609 – 1670), King of Denmark and Norway from 1648.
553
  Rügen.

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3. This illand is distant from Bornholme 14 and from Lubeck 26 leagues;

and keeping our course south w[est], wee had in our view Stralsund and
towards evening the promontory Dass554, w-ch is the confines of Pomeren
and Mechlenburg.
4. Wee sailed by Rebnits, Rostock and Wismar, which is 5 miles from
Lubeсk; and sailing by the points called Great and Litle Cluisemunde,
towards evening wee came into {233} the river, where the fortress
Travemunde. And with a great deale of worke all the night wee winded
the ship up the river, and
5, Sun. about 5 aclock in the morning came to anker
just under the towne, being by water 4 and but 2 [miles] by land from the
mouth of the river. I tooke up my lodging at the signe of the Red Lyon,
and sent the amber cabinet, which Mr. Bryan desired me to bring hither,
to Just Poorten with the letter concerning it.
Haveing with others hired a waggon, about 4 aclock wee went from
Lubeck; and feeding the horses about midnight at halfe way,
6. wee arrived at
Hamborg about midday. I tooke up my lodging in the Stone street, at the
signe of the Towne Revall, where I had choice company of cavaliers, only
a litle more ranting as was fitting for my humour. I sent immediately for
Mr. Nathaniell Cambridge, to whom I had letters of recommendation;
with whom being come, I consulted about my jorney further. By sea was
exceeding dangerous and uncertaine555, and by land tedious and expensive,
neither without hazard. He promised to ask the advice of other ffriends,
and give me his {233v} and their opinions, proffering me withall all the
kindnes in his power. Mr. Ver Poorten came to me afterwards, to whom I
had also letters, who also very kindly offered me all assistance.
Aug. 7, Tues. I went in the morning to Altenaw556 and heard devotion.
Afternoone one Mr. Kenedy came to me, who at his going from Mosco

554
  Darßer Ort.
555
  This was the time of war between Great Britain and the United Provinces
(1665 – 1667), with most of the action occurring at sea. The Dutch were allied
with France and Denmark.
556
  Altona, then a town under Danish sovereignty, now part of Hamburg.

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had taken letters from us all to Scotland, but lost them all at Riga, he have-
ing had a fitt of a frenzy there.
Received l-rs from Mosko from my wyfe and mo[the]r in law, dated 5
July, from Doctor Collins and Mr. Bryan of the same date p[e]r post, and
of diverse dates more.
8. My ffriends came to me, being very irresolute of giveing their advice.
However I resolved to travell by land, as the most pleasant and secure by
reason of the warrs.
9. I sent such things as I had not occasion for on my jorney to Mr.
Cambridge, to be sent to Riga, resolving to go as light as I could.
{234} 10. I did writt to my wyfe and mother in law, to Doctor Colins,
Mr. Bryan, and to the Dumny Chancellour Almais.
11. My ffriends convoying me, I tooke leave of them and went by boat
to Harborgh, 2 myles; where with others takeing the postwaggon, wee
came in the evening to Sarnsdorffe, 4 miles, where refreshing our selves
and horses wee set forward and
12. came in the morning to Witsendorffe, 4
miles, where wee dined, and came in the evening to Zell557, 4 miles. This is
a pretty towne by the river Alre558, where the Duke of Luneburg hath his
residence. He is called Georg William and is of the Lutheran perswasion,
being a branch of the house of Brunswick. Here is a very magnificent
pallace where the Duke resides. Wee were strictly examined at the gate of
the towne and all our names written up. Haveing supped and gott fresh
horses, wee went forward in the evening and, travelling the whole night,
wee came befor day to Hannover, and tooke up o[u]r lodging in an inne
befor the towne. This towne is 5 miles from Zell.
{234v} Aug. 13. The river Line runneth by it. [It] hath faire buildings
and a large pallace, where resideth Johan Friderick, Duke of Hannover and
Luneburgh, being of the Roman Catholick religion, and another branch
of the house of Brunswick.
Here wee hired a covered large waggon, being in company: the Baron
von Lottum, Lt. Coll. Schwerin, a burgess of Wesel with his wyfe, and
557
  Celle.
558
  Aller.

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myself, w[i]t[h] our servants; and about 8 aclock, takeing jorney, cross-
ing the river, wee had on our left hand a village called Ronnenberg, and a
parke on the right on a hill and halfe the descent thereof.
Wee came to the borders of Schawenberg559, being 2 miles from
Hannover, where wee saw Neystadt, a pretty [towne] belonging
to the Dukes of Luneburg on our right hand; then through Great
Brinnendorffe and Horst, then betwixt Lowen Hoffe on the right
and Reymenihoffe on the left hand, belonging to a gentleman called
Munichhausen, to Stadthagen, 2 miles. Here wee dined and gott fresh
horses.
Wee rode forward, haveing on o[u]r left hand Ober[n]kerchen, belong-
ing to the Landtgraffe of Hessen, to Bickeborg560, where wee lodged, paying
dear the next morning {235} for our carowsing in Hames kuite561. This is
the residence of Graffe Philip of Schawenborg and Lippe, where he hath a
faire house, fortifyed with a wall and moate, 1 mile.
14, Tues. From hence not very early wee went towards Minden, passing
the r. Weser under the towne, 1 mile, where wee made no stay; but getting
fresh horses, wee rode along by the Weser, and rideing up over a hill, which
the r. Weser in a manner cutteth through, the tract of the hill being on the
other syde, though not altogither so high, under which standeth the towne
Hamell, famous for the piper who led away their children, never heard of
againe.562 Wee came through villages and crossing the river Weyer, 2 miles,
came to Haervoerd563, 1 mile, where wee dined; then forward towards
Bilvelt564.
On the way, hearing of a well broke up some weeks ago, which cured
many diseases, wee went of the way a foot, where were encamped some

559
  Schaumburg.
560
  Bückeburg.
561
  Beer brewed in the Westphalian town of Hamm. See below, fol. 236.
562
  According to an old German legend, a skilled piper delivered Hameln from infesta-
tion by rats, luring them into the Weser River with his tunes. Нaving been denied
his reward by the townsfolk, he led their children away also, never to be seen
again. Medieval sources mention an exodus of children from Hameln in 1284.
563
  Herford.
564
  Bielefeld.

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hundreds of persons come from diverse places, some out of curiosity,

but most for health. The well was environed with boughs and benches
within. When wee entred, 2 magistrates of the towne who attended
{235v} invited us very civilly to sitt downe and offered us of the water
to drink. I found no different tast from other water, only a litle tartnes.
They told us that on Sunday last a thanksgiving was done for upwards
of 70 persons who had been cured in the 6 weekes tyme; and they shew
us about 30 crutches hanging on trees, which lame people, being cured,
had throwne away.
Wee went on foot to the towne, which was halfe ane English [mile] of,
and haveing refreshed our selves and gott fresh horses, wee made forward
in the evening. This towne is well built, hath a stone wall and thereby a
strong castle on a hill called Sparrenberg. Here hath the river Lutter its
fountaine. The towne is also famous for the great trade of linnen made
here and exported.
In the night tyme wee crossed the river Dalke, 2 miles, and the river
Eems, or Amasis, a mile, haveing on our left hand the castle Rietberg,
which giveth name to a county. A mile and a halfe further wee crossed the
river Hastenbeck and a litle further,
15. about 6 aclock, wee came to Lippstadt
on the river Lippe. This, with Minden {236} and all the countrey wee had
passed from thence, belongeth to the Elector of Brandeborg.
Here I was in great perplexity w-ch way to take, for at my going from
Hamborg ffriends had advised me to passe the r. Rhyne at Collen565 or
lower, and so through the land of Luick into the Spanish dominions, so to
avoyd going through Holland, according to my instructions.566 But hearing
here that the pest was in every towne on the Rhyne, and that all passing
that way must keep the quarantaine in the land of Liege or Luick, which
hinderance was very grievous to me, so that at last I resolved to go with the
company I was in to Wesel, and then there resolve on my farther jorney.

565
  Cologne.
566
  Gordon’s written instructions from the Russian Embassy Office did not forbid him
to travel through Holland. He may have received a verbal recommendation of this
kind, because his mission could be regarded as hostile to the United Provinces.

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About 10 aclock wee went from Lippestadt and passed by Hoffestadt,

belonging to the Freyherr567 von der Heyden, being 3 howres, then to Ham,
5 howres, where wee refreshed our selves and horses. In this towne a beer
called kuit is brewed, which is carryed to diverse places and even as farr as
Hamborg. From hence wee rode to Lunen, a litle towne, 6 howres, {236v}
where wee crossed the river Lippe, haveing rested all night. The r. Lippe
is thus farr navigable.
16. Riseing early wee came to Olphen, a litle towne belonging to the
Bishop of Munster, 3 howres, neer which wee crossed a litle river called
Sieve568. Wee came to a towne called Halteren, all destroyed by the late
warr. Wee advanced further and came to a milne called Wolfen, where wee
dyned and stayed a long tyme, carowsing in Rhenish wyne and Spa-water,
this being 3 howres from Halteren.
From hence wee rode to Shramburg or Shermbeck, 3 miles, and towards
evening to Wesel, 3 howres. Wee were questioned at the gate, and a souldier
sent with us to the maine guard on the market place, where the lt. coll. and
the rest being knowne, I was the less taken notice of. So, haveing told where
wee were to lodge, they let us go, and immediately sent a writer to note up
our names. I had promised the master of the post-waggon drink money
to conceale me, telling him only that I was a Scotsman and was afrayed of
being detained upon the acco-t {237} of the warr with the King. So when
the scrivener came, I went back to the stables untill he was gone, and the
postmaster gave me a name and office what he pleased. Here wee were very
well entertained, haveing abundance of good wine, and lodged, paying for
all halfe a r. doller apiece and for our servants 10 stuivers569 each.
17. Haveing breakfasted early and given the postmaster his morning
draught and a reichs doller for his kindnes, I caused bring my baggage to
the boat without being questioned. Wee went now by water, haveing the
towne Santen on our left hand, to Rees, 4 howres, where wee stayed about

567
  Baron (German).
568
  Evidently, River Stever. Here, as in some other cases, an unfamiliar foreign place
name must have been distorted when the author copied his Diary.
569
  This probably means not the Dutch stuiver, but its cheaper imitation, the Stüber of
Rhineland-Westphalian principalities.

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2 howres; then went further in the sight of Cleve, the chieffe towne of
the Dukedome of Clivia, in the possession of the Elector of Brandeburg,
where he also sometymes resideth.570 Towards evening wee came to
Emmerick, 3 howres, which with the two former are in the Dukedome of
Cleve, and the Hollanders have their garrisons in them.
{237v} Aug. 18, Sat. Here I lodged all night and the next morning
went to the Jesuits church and heard devotion. The paters were but lately
returned, haveing been forced to remove when the warr began with the
Bishop of Munster.571
Haveing breakfasted, wee sailed downe to Shenkenshants, 2 houres,
where the Rhine divides, where wee stayed an howre; in which tyme I
went ashore and tooke a view of the fort, which both by nature and art
is well fortifyed. Towards evening wee went downe the Wael and came
to Nimwegen572 and lodged in the Toelass, being 4 howres, which in all
the Netherlands and Westphalen they reckon [ … ]573, being halfe a Dutch
myle. A lievtennant lodged with me, and albeit wee had nothing extraor-
dinary, yet wee had a pretty dear reckoning the next day.
19. About 6 aclock wee went to the boat and sailed to Tiel, 6 howres,
where wee stayed about an howre and refreshed our selves; where wee
gott another cavalier in company, and 2 yong [ … ]574. Wee sailed by the
fort St. Andrewes, 2 howres, and to Bommel, 2 howres, where wee stayed
about halfe an howre, and then passing {238} by the house of Lowenstein
and Workum, betwixt which the r. Maes falleth into the Wael. In going by I
see S[i]r Georg Aiscue, on[e] of the English admirals, who had been taken
prisoner in the engagement the beginning of June.575
570
  The Duchy of Kleve (Cleves) with the Counties of Mark and Ravensberg passed to
the electors of Brandenburg by the Treaty of Xanten in 1614.
571
  Christoph Bernhard von Galen (1606 – 1678), bishop of Münster, was one of the
most militant German princes and in 1665 allied with Great Britain against the
United Provinces, but had to sign a peace in April 1666.
572
  Nijmegen.
573
  There is no visible gap in MS, but some words were evidently omitted in copying.
574
  From the following it appears that wenches are meant.
575
  On 3 June 1666, in the great Four Days’ Battle with the Dutch, the 92-gun flagship
Prince Royal, commanded by Vice Admiral Sir George Ayscue (ca.1616 – 1671) and
deemed to be the world’s best ship, ran aground, struck flag and was burned by

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Wee came to Gorkum on the other side, being 2 howres from

Bommell, where wee stayed but halfe an howre; and going 2 howres
farther, the cavaliers, who had bargained it seems with the w[enches?],
haveing bribed or perswaded the skipper to stay there all night, wee
could not by any meanes gett him to go from thence. So here wee
lodged,
20, Moon. and
the next morning came to Dort, 2 h[owres]. This towne hath the prior-
ity of all the other in Holland, hath the staple of Rhenish wyne, and is a
strong, populous, rich citty, and standeth in ane illand. Short of it I went
ashore and viewed the ruines of the house de Merve, being on our left
hand. For An. D. 1421 by a suddaine inundation 80 villages and about
100,000 people were drowned, one child in the cradle, being a son and
heire of this lordship of Merve being miraculously preserved; for a cat,
getting up upon the cradle, kept the cradle in ballance till it downe the
river arrived safely at Dort, {238v} called in Latine Dordracum, and in
Hollands Dordrecht.
Here, haveing put our baggage over into another boat, I went into
the towne and up through the p[rinci]p[a]ll streets; and returning to
our boate, wee set forward about 10 aclock downe the r. Wael, towards
Zeeland. Wee had a great boat and store of company of all sorts, and
passed the tyme with discourses, tobacco and eating of bernacles. I
understanding that in the boat was a captaines wyfe with 2 children, who
being of English parents, and marryed to ane Englishman called Aiscue,
a capt. who being with others at the beginning of the warr recalled out
of the States service, was gone over to England, and now she was con-
voying her self and effects over to England as privately as possible. By
meanes of my brother in law Charles, who had found her out, I offered
my assistance and company on the way, whereof she was glad. Wee sailed
by Wilhelmstadt on our left hand, 4 howres, and {239} giveing our selves
rest in the night tyme,
Aug. 21. by

the enemy. Ayscue was confined in the Dutch state prison of Loevestein.

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day light wee found our selves within sight of Zerick-Zee, it being ten
howres from Wilhelmstadt. Wee passed by it, being a good way of on our
right hand. About midday wee landed at Tervere576, being 4 howres from
Zerick-Zee.
Here wee landed and tooke coach to Midleburg, being a Hollands
mile or howres going. From thence, putting our baggage on a waggon,
I with company went afoot to Flushing, being 1 h[owres] going. I shall
speake nothing of these townes, being so well knowne and described so
often.
This Flushing was so propt up with souldiers and seamen that wee
could hardly gett a house to lodge in, for here was de Ruiter577 with his
fleet embarking. Haveing at last gott a lodging, and only roome without
bedding or beds, wee had but sorry accomodation and no ease; for some
Scotsmen were gott into the next roome, who passed the whole {239v}
night carowsing, swearing and blaspheming, so that it was a grieffe and
vexation to hear them.
This Flushing with Middleburg and Ter Vere are all in the illand of
Walcheren, the fairest illand of all the Low Cowntreyes.
22, Wed. I gott up early and caused our baggage be brought a ship-
board, and following our selves, about 7 aclock we went from thence and
crossing over to Flanders, wee entred a large channell or river, haveing an
illand called Catsand on our left hand and the continent on the right, on
each syde a fort with other small workes of fortification.
Wee sailed up to Sluis, which is about 5 leagues from Flussing. Wee
came just to the shoare by the towne and found the gates shutt, it being
according to the new style the first Wednesday of the month, which by ane
ordinans of the States was ordained to be a holyday. All the passengers in
the ship haveing nothing but satchels went out and crossing the river, went
afoot to a small fort halfe a mile distant, and from thence tooke boat to
Bruges. But I, {240} being entangled with a trunke and other luggage and
engaged to keep company with the captaines wyfe, who had a large trunke
576
  Veere.
577
  Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter (1607 – 1676), famous Dutch admiral, who won
several brilliant victories against the English and French navies.

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and other things and a litle child, could not stirr. I desired the shipper to
procure our entrance into the towne, but he could not, nor gett any other
convenience for bringing us to Bruges [but a cart], which he hired for us
for 2 r. dollers.
The sea beginning to flow, the master told us that how soone his
ship was afloate he must be gone; so I was forced to take all out of
the ship and harbor it on the shore. I was in very great perplexity here,
not knowing what to do, whether to reveale or conceale myself, in both
w-ch I found difficulties, and so began to repent my comeing through
Holland, fearing to be discovered. I promised the master of the ship a
r. doller for his paines, if he could procure us entrance into the towne,
which made him apply himself very cordially and earnestly to procure
us passage; and finding two of the magistrates walkeing befor the gate,
he made his address to them, who commanded us to be let {240v} into
the towne.
So, getting fellowes to carry in our baggage, wee entred the first and
second gate, when the officer of the guard came stareing and swearing,
and would force us out againe, saying the magistrates had nothing to do
or command at his post. I gave him all the good and rationall words I
could, and the captains wyfe beginning to speake, he knew her, and so
entring in discourse with her, he connived at my going forward through
the last gate. Being come to an alehouse where the cart was ready, I gott
the same people to put our baggage on the cart, and for joy rewarded
them liberally. In the meane tyme the captaines wyfe being come, for she
had told a long formall story to the officer at the gate, wee set forward to
the other gate, which wee found shutt, wherewith I was a litle troubled.
But the carter telling me that how soone as the preaching was done, it
would be opened, to avoid examination and telling a ly, I went into a
brandewine house and called for brandy, {241} which not being able to
drink I spilled unperceived, leaving the captaines wyfe to keep discourse
with the guards, w-ch she could very well do, being a notable, talkative,
witty woman.
The gate being opened, wee went forward, the captains wyfe with her
litle child on the cart or carr, and I with the rest on foot. About a mile of

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wee came to Middleburg, where at first wee were detained by a Hollander,

and at the other end of the towne by a Spaniard, who would needs search
us for merchandize, and from the last with a great deale of trouble wee
came free.
Being come about 3 miles, wee entred Bruges, where at the gate
wee were questioned from whence wee came. Wee (as the fuirman had
instructed us) said wee came from Ardenburg, that being clear of the
pest, but Sluis infected. Being entred the gate, wee gott a great company
of boyes after us, crying “Geuse! Geuse!”578, which is a name the[y] give to
the {241v} Protestants here; all who come from the United Provinces
being supposed to be such, albeit there be in Holland not few less Roman
Catholickes as Protestants, especially in Amsterdam.
This citty is the best built of any in Flanders, and the citizens the most
gentile of all the Low Countreyes. It is fortifyed with a stone and earthen
wall and large ditches, hath a very wholesome aire, and by a new digged
channell can receive vessels of 400 tunne.
23, Thur. Haveing lodged with good convenience, I hired a waggon
to Ostend. On the way wee found one of our Kings jacht[s] at anker,
who had aboord (albeit he would not be knowne) Mr. Kyvet, one of the
States Generall, who was fled for keeping correspondence with England
and interessed in the business of Ruitm-r Buat.579 I went into the alehouse
where the capt. of the yacht was, and was very pressing to take me aboord,
but he refused under pretence that he durst not, being sent expressly about
his M[ajesty’s] business, and so durst not take in any passengers. {242} So
I went forward towards Ostend and getting a boat, ferryed over the haven
(wherein at this tyme were about 100 saile of ships of all syzes bound for
severall places) to the other syde, and immediately agreed with the master
of a ship for my passage to England, and brought my baggage aboard. I
578
  Geuzen (French: Les Gueux – beggars). Originally, a derogatory term for rebels
against Spanish rule in the Netherlands.
579
  Johan Kyvet (Kiviet), former burgomaster of Rotterdam, fled to England and was
knighted by King Charles II. Henry Fleury de Buat was a French gentleman who
served the prince of Orange and was beheaded in The Hague on 1 October 1666
for treasonable contacts with the British court. The States-General is the parlia-
ment of the United Provinces.

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did not go into the towne because the pest was in it, yet wee bought our
provisions from thence.
24. The Kings jacht being come downe and ankered in the haven, I
went aboard of her and revealed to the captaine what I was and what my
errand or business, desireing that he would take me along. But then he was
more averse, saying he could have resolved to have hazarded the takeing
of a private person, but could by no meanes without express order adven-
ture to take me in. So I was forced to desist.
{242v} Aug. 25, Sat. In the morning it was expected that our fleet
should set saile the next day, but notice [having] come that the Hollands
fleet was gone from Flushing, they were at a stand what to do.
26. Afternoone wee did see the Hollands fleet at sea of from
Blankenburg580, which put all the confused counsels of the masters of the
ships to a resolution of not adventuring out till a safer season. Whereupon
I resolved to returne to Bruges and take up a lodging there, being more
convenient to stay there as a shipboard or at Ostend, where the aire was
unwholesome and vivres581 dearer.
27. I went to Bruges and tooke a lodging in the Esel-street, at the signe
of the King of Great Brittaine.
{243} 29. I went to Ostend and brought my baggage back to Bruges,
paying halfe fraught, and that with much ado.
Writt to Hamburg and ffriends in Mosko.
30. Hearing that Mrs. Plowdon was come to Gent upon the acco-t of
entring herself a nunne in that convent where her daughter was abbess,
I resolved to go thither and perswaded my landlord Mr. Frazer, a good
merry man, to go along with me. Wee went in a great boat along the river
or channell called Albertina. Wee had all sorts of company on this boat
and were merry. A mile short of Gent wee quitted our boat and lodged
in ane innes, the boates not being permitted to go to Gent, because the
pestilence was in Bruges.
31. Wee hired a waggon early and came to Gent, and lodged at the
signe of the Starr. I went immediately and heard devotion, and went to
  Blankenberge.
580

  Victuals (French).
581

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the English nunnes monastery and spoke with Mrs. Plowdon, who was
exceedingly rejoyced to hear of my mother in law and see us. Haveing
dined, wee hired a waggon and went towards Bruges and lodged in a vil-
lage halfe way, where wee had good wholesome countrey fare.

{243v} Sept-r 1, Sat. Haveing breakfasted, wee set forward and came to
Bruges about 2 aclock afternoone.

Here I stayed some weekes, exspecting the going away of the fleet from
Ostend for England with a great deale of impatience, albeit I had many
wayes to divert me. For in the morning early I went over the way to the
monastery of the Capuccine Fryers and heard masse; then, at halfe ten I
went to the monastery of the English Nuns after the Princes Pallace, and
heard masse againe; and getting acquaintance, wee did meet at the place
where the L[ady] Abbess useth to sitt and give audiens at a trally, and there
with others heard what passed.
In the afternoones I either went with the English resident and other
Scots and English and passed our tyme at the Frey582 with a glass of wyne
and joviall discourse; or then went to the Nunnery, where were 3 yong
gentlewomen lately come from Lowen {244} and going for England
lodged, and passed the tyme with them at cards or discourse; or went
sometymes and walkt about the walls, see the monasteryes, waterworkes
and other things worthy of notice. Wee had sometymes in the Nunnery
after vespers at my desire excellent vocall musick, whereat many people of
all nations and religions were often present.

13. I did writt to Mrs. Plowdon, desireing her advice for buying in of
necessaries and makeing of cloaths for my wyfe and mother in law, to the
which I received a very civill and respectfull answer, dated the 16th.
Being wearyed of lying or staying in one place, I found fitt to writt to
England and give notice of my being here, and desire assistance for my
passage. So I did writt a letter to the Earle of Lawderdale583 and another
582
  Apparently, Vrije – palace of the city councillors of Bruges.
583
  John Maitland, Earl, later 1st Duke of Lauderdale (1616 – 1682), secretary of state

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to Mr. James Mettellane, his secretary, to that purpose, and complaining

of Capt. Hill of De[p]tford, who would not take me into the Kings yacht.
{244v} In the meane wee heard the sad newes of the burning of the
citty of London584, diverse posts haveing been kept up.

Sept-r 19. I did writt to Gen-ll Dalyell and to Lt. Gen-ll Drummond, as
also to my father and unkle.
16 [sic]. I did writt to Sir John Hebdon585, informing him of my busi-
ness and stay, to my L-d Lawderdale and my father.
I did writt to Russia to my wyfe and her mother, to Doctor Collins
and Mr. Bryan, and to the Dumny [Chancellour] Almais Ivanovitz, giveing
notice of my tedious and expensive jorney, and my being forced to stay
here for want of passage, not dareing adventure by the ordinary packet-
boat for fear of being robbed, as a Brandeburgish envoy was lately by the
pickarowns, desireing and hopeing that consideration should be taken of
my expences.586
Received an answer of my letter from Sir John Hebdon, desireing me
to land at Deptford and ask the way to Peckham, where he invited me to
stay in his house untill so long as cloaths and other things should be fur-
nished, w-ch offer I resolved to embrace.
{245} I received an answer of my letter to Mr. Mettellan, giveing me
notice that a Kings jacht which was to land at Newport had orders to take
me in.

and virtual ruler of Scotland under King Charles II.

584
  The Great Fire, the worst in London’s history, broke out on 2 September 1666 and
raged until the 6th. The flames destroyed St. Paul’s Cathedral, 87 churches, 52 guild
halls and 13,200 houses, sparing just one fifth of the city; some 100,000 people
were left homeless.
585
  Sir John Hebdon (1612 – 1670), prominent English merchant active in Muscovy,
member of the Russia Company. For some years he was the tsar’s official com-
missary in the Netherlands and Britain, hiring “skilful men” for Russian service
and buying large consignments of goods. This entry and the one below on
Hebdon’s reply were clearly written in later, in smaller hand, which is also indi-
cated by reverse dating order.
586
  This letter, which survives in translation from Latin to Russian (RGADA, F. 35, op.
1, № 215, fols. 54 – 56), is printed in my Russian edition of the Diary.

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I borrowed 10 lib. sterling from Mr. Collison and recommended my

trunks and other things to Mr. Skeine, takeing only a bagge with my cre-
dentialls and other letters,
25. and went downe by boat to Newport, and tooke
up my lodging in an Irishmans house.
26. Here I was farr more grieved as at Bruges, not hearing any thing
of the yacht and wanting company. The next day the packet-boat arriving,
one [ … ], a Scotsman, told me that the Kings yacht, which had orders to
take me over, was forced to land at Bolloigne and would hardly come to
Newport, which grieved me exceedingly.
28. A litle yacht arrived with some merchandize from England,
whereof getting notice, I gott my landlord to go for {245v} the captaine,
with whom I agreed and hired his yacht to Dover for 60 crownes, on these
conditions: that as many passengers as should go should agree with and
pay me for their passage; any goods or merchandize should pay him for
fraught; that he should not go a capeing on the way nor do violence to any,
but go streight to Dover.
I knowing that there were many in Bruges waiting for a convenient
passage to England, sent by an express letters to the English Resident Mr.
Glanvile587, to Mr. Skein, Mr. Collison and to the yong ladyes in the Nunnery,
showing them the convenience, and that any who would go should come
the next day without faile, for upon the Sunday wee must be gone.
29. This brought some people downe, especially some Hamburger
merchants with their wiwes, who payed me the halfe of q-t {246} I had
agreed for, and I was very glad to gett that.

Writt to Mosko to my ffriends, and to the R[ussian] Chancellour Almais by

the way of Hamborg, ad[dressed] to Mr. Cambrige there.

587
  Benjamin, son of Richard Glanville between 1639 and 1647 is recorded in Russian
sources as a clerk of Thomas Simons; both were members of the Russia
Company (A.V. Diomkin, Zapadnoevropeyskiye kuptsy i ikh prikazchiki v Rossii v XVII
v. (Moscow, 1992), p. 36). This is another illustration of how far-reaching and
tightly-knit the merchant community was.

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Sept-r 30. Wee went aboard immediately after midday, the mariners
being all drunk and the captaine not sober. So, displaying the Kings col-
lours, wee sailed downe the river, but were not farr gone when a ship
sailing along by the shore alarumed us; for she perceiving the Kings col-
lours flying and thinking us to be a caper, turned towards us and cast
anchor within the buyes. Befor she cast anchor I did not know what to
think of it, and our captaine gave orders to have all in readines, he have-
ing about 30 men aboard and 4 litle pieces of cannon. So they haled out
of a chest their rusty muskets and charged the pieces. But how soone
I saw them cast anchor, I knew they for feare of us came in for shel-
ter within the buyes, and so I told the captaine that he should offer no
violence, putting him in mynd that it was in a neutrall place, and of our
agreement. {246v} But the mariners and souldiers, being beastly drunk,
would scarcely hear him, so that in the going by one shott of a musquet
at them, whereat they falling to the ground; when wee were past, they
rose up and called out, “Go, you tailes, the French are waiting for you in
the sea!”, which so irritated the seamen that they would be turning upon
them to revenge themselves, but I with the other passengers gott them
diswaded from it.
Towards evening wee sailed by Dunkirk with a soft gale. After sunsett,
the wind beginning to blow harder, I went downe below and lay downe
near to the great mast, where I knew the least motion was.
About midnight, being against Calais, our captaine seased upon 3 large
fisher boats haveing masts and sailes, and put men of his owne aboard
of them and tooke some of theirs to him. But I being awaked with the
noise, sent up a servant to know what the business was, whereof being
informed, I went above and prevailed so with the capt. and seamen, that
they let the men go over in their own boats and let them go; only their
nets, fish, ankers and what they had about they tooke from them.

{247} Oct-r 1, Moond. By day light wee came to Dover and landing, went to
the Red Lyon and breakfasted. Afterward takeing post, I rode to Canterbury,
being [ … ] miles, where refreshing our selves and getting other horses, wee
rode forward to Sittingborne, where changing horses, wee rode through

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Rochester, [ … ] miles, to Gravesend, 7 miles, and lodged in the Salutation,

where wee had good accommodation and good entertainment, but deare.
2. Wee tooke boat and rowed up the river Thames to De[p]tford, where
I went ashore and tooke a guide, who conducted me to Peckham, where I
was heartily welcomed by Sir John Hebdon and family588.
Here I received a letter from G-ll Dalyell, dated London 13 July, and
in it an enclosed from my father, dated Achluichries 20 Junii. I received
also letters from Mr. Bryan, dated Mosco 16th Aug., from Doctor Collins,
dated ib. 20 Aug.
{247v} Haveing advised with Sir John Hebdon about the putting
myself and suite in a decent posture of appearing befor his Majesty,
I sent to Mr. Peter Webster and Mr. Georg Grove (to whom I had
bills of exchange from Mr. Parker589) for money, who immediately
furnished me with as much as I had occasion for. So I stayed some
dayes here, untill I furnished myself and suite with cloaths and liveryes.
And because the Court was in mourning590, I thought fitt to conforme
myself to that, putting my self in deep mourning; my brother in law
(who was to carry befor me the Emperours letters) in halfe mourning;
but my servants in my ordinary livery, which, because conforme to my
instructions I was not to have any publick entry or audience, needed
not to be numerous.

Oct-r 9, Tues. Haveing furnished myself with all things, I went privately
to London, which lay smoacking in its ashes, and tooke up my lodging in
the Strand, a litle above Ivy Lane, in ane apothecaryes house. The same day
I desired Sir John Hebdon to go to the Earle of Lawderdale and acquaint
588
  Sir John and Phillippa Hebdon had four sons, John, Richard, Thomas and Robert,
and two daughters, Elizabeth and Mary, who married, respectively, Thomas Bryan
and Samuel Meverell, both merchants in Muscovy and also Gordon’s friends. See
J.R. Hebden, Sir John Hebdon Kt, 1612 – 1670 (Ripon, 2003).
589
  Probably, William “son of Eleazar” (Elizariev) Parker, prominent English mer-
chant in Muscovy from 1640s to 1670s, member of the Russia Company (A.V.
Diomkin, op. cit., p. 39).
590
  In remembrance of Luisa, Queen Dowager of Portugal, mother of Catherine of
Bragança, consort of King Charles II. She died in Lisbon on 17 (27) February
1666.

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him of my comeing, and know his pleasure how and when I should have
the honour of kissing {248} his Sacred Majesties hand; who went and
returned with ans-r that he had acquainted his M. of my business and
comeing, and that this evening I should have access to his Majesty.
About 6 aclock at night I was sent for and brought to the Earle of
Lawderdales lodgings, being accompanyed by Sir John Hebdon and Mr.
James Metellane, his L[ordshi]ps secretary. The Earle of Lawderdale
received me very kindly, and being informed more particularly of the
circumstances of my business, he conducted me to his Majesty, who was
newly returned from seeing a French ship which was taken591.
I found his Majesty standing under a canopy bareheaded, with many
nobles about him. Being entred the roome and performed the usuall rev-
erences, I tooke the Emperours letters from my brother in law. After I had
the short complement, his Ma. was pleased to receive the letters with his
owne hand and gave them of immediately to one standing by, and asked
me for the good health of his [Tsarish] Ma., to which I answered after
the ordinary way. Then his M. was pleased to say that this message [was]
so much the {248v} more acceptable that the Tzaar had been pleased to
entrust one of his owne subjects with it, and caused tell me that I might
use the freedome of the Court.
Being reconducted to my Lord Lawderdales lodgings, I stayed halfe an
howre expecting that my Lord should come downe; but he not comeing,
I went to my lodging, whither Mr. Patrick Wast conducted me and with
others stayed about two howres with me.
10. The next day I received the visits of diverse particular persons, not
haveing in my instructions to give notice of my comeing or visits to the
ministers of forreigne princes, upon the acco-t of not makeing any great
noise, the Russes being unwilling to disoblige the Hollanders, whom my
business concerned most.
11. Hearing that Mr. Georg Gordon, brother to the Laird of Haddo592,

591
  This was the 50-gun Rubis, captured on 18 September off the Isle of Wight, when
her captain mistook the white flag of the British squadron for his own.
592
  George Gordon (1637 – 1720), Patrick’s cousin. In 1667, on the death of his brother
Sir John, Laird of Haddo, he inherited his lands and title of baronet. He later

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was in the citty, I sent to seeke him and desire him to come to me, which
he did in the evening with Mr. James Metellane and John Kirkwood. Wee
mad merry, remembring ffriends till neer midnight.
Received letters from G-ll Dalyell, dated Lieth 2 Oct-ris, and from L.
G. Drummond, dated Ed[inbu]r[gh] 9 Oct-ris.
{249} The Kings locksmith by order brought [a key], w-ch opened
the doores to the parke, galleries and o[the]r passages in the Court, to
whom I gave 20 shillings and to his attendant 5, my name being graved
on it.

Being not well accommodated in the Strand, I removed to Hay Market and
lodged in Mr. Robert Ranyes, at the signe of the 2 Blew Balls, where I had
exceeding good accommodation.
I sent my brother in law Charles to the dancing and writeing schoole.

15. Writt to my father and brother.

16. I had conference with my Lord Chancellour in his howse, he
being sick of the gowt; the substance whereof in my other booke of my
relation.593

{249v} 21. Being Sunday, I hired a coach and rode to Highgate and dined
with the Earle of Lawderdale594, and returned in the evening.
became Lord President of the Court of Session, Lord Chancellor of Scotland
and Earl of Aberdeen. For Patrick Gordon’s mission to Britain I have used the
commentary in Passages from the Diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries.
593
  Gordon’s first mention of a special book, wherein he put additional evidence.
Regrettably, it has not been found. Lord Chancellor of England was Edward
Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (1609 – 1674).
594
  Lord Lauderdale’s mansion house still stands in Highgate. Here is a curious
account of a party there just several weeks before: “[28 July 1666, Lauderdale
House, Highgate.] His lady and some Scotch people at supper – pretty odd com-
pany … There played one of their servants upon the viallin, some Scotch tunes
only – several – and the best of their country, as they seemed to esteem them by
their praising and admiring them; but Lord, the strangest ayre that ever I heard in
my life, and all of one cast. But strange to hear my Lord Lauderdale say himself,
that he had rather hear a Catt mew then the best Musique in the world – and the
better the music, the more sick it makes him. And that of all instruments, he hates

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22. Writt to my father and to M. Massy in Bruges, and to M. Plowden

in Gent p[e]r post.
23. I had another conference with my Lord Chancellor and S[i]r W-m
Morice, the Secretary of State595, at the Lord Chancellors house, which is
insert [in] my booke of relations.
Received a letter from Gen-ll Dalyell, dated Lieth 16 Oct-ris.
{250} Oct-r 25. Writt to Gen-ll Dalyell and Lt. Gen-ll Drummond
p[e]r post.
Received letters from my wyfe and mother in law, dated Mosko July 20
and 24, and Aug. 24 and 26.

29. Writt to my wyfe and mother in law, to Doctor Collins, Mr.

Bryan and to Almais Ivan[ovich] p[e]r post. Writt to my father p[e]r Mr.
Skeine.
30. Received a letter from my father, dated Achluichries 20 Oct-ris,
and another from Gen-ll Dalyell, dated the 23 Oct-ris from Lieth; from
my brother John, dated Westertowne 15 Oct-ris; from my unkle, dated
Bomatuthil Oct-r 15.

{250v} No-r 1, Thur. Received letters from my ffriends in Mosko

p[e]r post, in an enclosed from Coll. Bockhoven.

4. Writt to my father, uncle and the Laird of Pitfodells with that from
his son Pawl596.
5. Writt to my wyfe and ffriends in Russia and to Coll. von Bockhoven.

My cousin Collonell Patrick Gordon, commonly called Steelhand, came to

London with ano[the]r Bohemian colonell with him.

the Lute most; and next to that, the Baggpipe” (The Diary of Samuel Pepys, vol. VII.
1666 (Berkeley & Los Angeles, 1972), pp. 224 – 5). I should note that Pepys was
aware of his own Scots ancestry.
595
  Sir William Morice (1602 – 1676), secretary of state for the Northern Department
and a lord of the Treasury from 1660 to 1668.
596
  Gordon forwarded to Aberdeenshire a letter from his friend, Major Paul Menzies
(see above, fol. 120), to his father, Sir Gilbert Menzies of Pitfodels (†1669).

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Mr. Golt came.

I received my trunkes and other baggage, which I left at Bruges.

Had Madam Hebdon and her daughters at the New Exchange and bought
for them gloves etc. for 2 libs. 10 sh.

{251} Received l[ette]rs from Doctor Collins, dated Mosko 25 7bris;

from Mr. Bryan, dated 27 ej.; from my wyfe and mother in law, dated
[ … ], whereby I had notice of the birth of a Prince called John597.
I sent a memoriall into the Secretary office598 concerning my business,
and was promised ane answer.

12. Received a letter from my cousing Mr. Thomas Gordon, dated

Ed[inbu]r[gh] 12 No-ris, with one from my father, dated [ … ].
13. Writt to the generalls599 and other ffriends in Scotland.

I had the 3d conference with the L-d Chancellour and the Secretary of
State, where wee debated the business I came for, as also that of the
priviledges very sharply.600

I did writt to my father, unkle, brother and ffriends in Scotland, sending 4

small wipps or rings for tokens.

{251v} I sent Charles to sollicite about a letter to the King of Polland for
his fathers releasement.601

597
  Tsarevich Ivan, son of Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich and future co-ruler of Peter the
Great, was born on 27 August 1666.
598
  At this time there were two English secretaries of state, Sir William Morice and
Baron Arlington. According to Gordon himself, he dealt with the former.
599
  Dalyell and Drummond.
600
  The British government still insisted on restoration of their merchants’ privileges in
Russia. See above, fols. 221 – 222 v.
601
  Colonel Philipp Albert van Bockhoven, Gordon’s father-in-law, remained a prisoner
of the Poles.

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Mr. Skein came from Bruges and brought my note from Mr. Collison for
the money I had borrowed from him in Bruges.

20. Received l-rs from my father, dated at Achluichries 17 Oct-ris; from

Gen-ll Dalyell, dated Lieth 6 No-ris.

23. Writt to wyfe and ffriends in Russia.

Received a letter from Lt. Gen-ll Drummond, dated at Lieth 15 No-ris;
and from Gen-ll Daliell, dated Lieth 14 No-ris.
24. Writt to Gen-ll Dalyell and Lt. Gen-ll Drummond.

{252} Dec-r 1, Sat. Writt to Mr. Clough.

Received two letters from my father, dated the 20 and 23 No-ris.

6. Received letters from my wyfe and mother in law, dated Mosko 7bris 26.

Received letters from Mrs. Plowden, dated Gent 25 No-ris, and from Mrs.
Massy, dated Bruges the 20 No-ris.

I borrowed 15 lib. st. from Mr. Peter Webster.

8. Received a letter from the Laird of Pitfoddels, dated Ab[er]d[een] 26

No-ris, with an enclosed to his son Pawl; and one from my father, dated
26 No-ris.

{252v} I went to Peckam, afterwards to Lower Teutin602 and from thence

rode to Colebrooke, where wee were merry all night, and haveing aug-
mented our company with Mr. Richard Hebdon and bedfellow, wee
returned to London, where all supped by me.

  Tooting.
602

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 256 1666

I went to the Tower and see the crowne, scepter, juwels, armes and maga-
zine, which cost me wages 1 lib. 13 shil.

Dec-r 10. I had my last conference with the L-d Chancellour in his house.
He told me the Kings resolution and the Counsells concerning my business
and an answer which I was to have, and that his R[oyal] M[ajesty] had com-
manded to give me 200 pund st. upon the acco-t of my expences and a gift.
Writt to my wyfe and ffriends in Russia.
Received a letter from Mr. Clough.
I was entertained very kindly by Mr. Battersly at a dinner.

{253} The Earle of Rothes, being Lord High Commissioner of Scotland603,

came to Scotland [sic], whom I visited in his lodgings in Suffolk Street,
who received me very kindly.

Received a letter from Lt. Gen-ll Drummond, dated Ed[inbu]r[gh] the

4 10ris, in ans-r to myne of 24 passat.; as also from Pitfoddels and my
father.

Coll. P[atrick] Gordon departed with litle satisfaction, haveing gott but
50 lib. st., and that from the Earle of Middleton604, but by his M[ajesty’s]
order. He haveing left his skatole605 with his passes in pledge of 20 lib. st.
by Mr. Golt, he desired me to buy it out, giveing me but 5 libs. st., so I
payed the other 15.

17. Writt to my wyfe and ffriends in Russia.

19. Received letters from Mr. Skein and my unkle.

603
  John Leslie, 7th Earl, later 1st Duke of Rothes (ca.1630 – 1681), Lord High Treasurer,
Keeper of the Great Seal, Chancellor and President of the Privy Council of
Scotland and the King’s High Commissioner to the Scottish Parliament.
604
  John, 1st Earl of Middleton (ca.1608 – 1674), eminent Scottish royalist general, later
governor of Tangier.
605
  Szkatuła (Polish) – box or casket.

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20. Writt to G-ll Dalyell606, to my father, Pitfoddells, unkle, cousin and

to Mr. Skein.

{253v} Received letters from my wyfe, mother in law in a coverto from

Mr. Bryan, dated 7 No-ris.

Dined in London with Sir John Hebdon and his sons, and visited in the
afternoone Mr. Towrs.

Dec-r 27. On St. Johns day dined in Peckam with choyce company, and
were merry.

Dined with the Earle of Middleton.

Visited the Earle of Carlisle at his lodgings.

Dined with Sir W-m Davidson and Sir W-m Thomson, where was also
Doctor Morison607, and were merry.

At dinner with great company, w-ch cost [ … ]

{254} 1667

Ja-ry 1, Tues. Being invited, I rode to Lower Tewtin where choice com-
pany were conveened, and were merry two dayes together.
3. Came to London with all the company, who supped at the signe of

606
  Strangely enough, the Diary is silent about the victory won by Dalyell over rebel
Covenanters at Rullion Green near Edinburgh on 28 November 1666. This letter
probably congratulated the general with his success, of which Gordon must have
known. Unfortunately, the rich Dalyell family archive at The Binns does not con-
tain any correspondence between the two renowned “Russian Scots”.
607
  Sir William Davidson (†1689), Conservator of the Privileges of the Scottish Nation
(virtually, consul general) in the Netherlands. Sir William Thomson (†1681), mer-
chant, M.P. for London. Robert Morison M.D. (1620 – 1683), native of Aberdeen,
physician to King Charles II from 1660, later professor of botany at Oxford.

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the Cock and stayed in my lodging all night at my charge.

4. Dined in the Rhenish wyne house at the charges of Sir John Hebdon.
5. Dined by Sir Georg Ent, the phisitian608.
6. Dined by the Knights Errant.
7. Dined by Mr. Carril his father, who was a member of the Innes of
Court in Holborne.

{254v} Received a letter from Mr. Bryan, dated Mosko 4 Dec-ris, and
therein letters from my wyfe and mother in law.

A letter was ordered by his Sacred M[ajesty] to be written to the King of

Polland in favour of my father in law; the substance whereof followeth,
after titles and salutations:

“Whereas Colonell Philippus Albertus von Bockhoven, haveing for

severall yeares served our Father of blessed memory and Us, and
had still so continued in our service, had not the late rebellion of our
subjects happened, whereby Wee were forced for some tyme to estrange
our selves from our Patrimoniall Kingdomes, and so consequently our
servants were forced to seeke for their subsistance of forreigne Princes.
Amongst those our distressed servants the afores-d Coll. Ph. Alb. von
Bockhoven was entertained in the service of our loveing Brother his
Tzarish Ma[jes]tie of Russia, in whose pay and service he continued till
the yeare 1660, {255} when in October the same yeare he was made
prisoner of warr to the Littawish Generall Jehan Sapiha, and now doth
continue prisoner with the eldest son of the fores-d Generall (now
deceassed).
Wee, calling to mind the many and faithfull services, which Wee received
from our afors-d ser-t Coll. Ph. Alb. van Bockhoven, and the desire which
Wee have to restore him againe into our service, do therefor desire of your
Majesty to give unto our said ser-t his liberty to returne unto Us and our
service, which Wee shall acknowledge as a particular kindnes from your
608
  Sir George Ent (1604 – 1689), distinguished anatomist, original fellow of the Royal
Society, later president of the Royal College of Physicians.

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Ma-tie to Us, and shal be ready upon all occasions to returne the lyke when
it shal be required of Us, etc.”

{255v} I dined with my L-d Middleton and was very kindly entertained.

Writt to my father, unkle, brother and cousin Mr. Thomas.

Lt. Generall Drummond came to London.

Ja-ry 14. I received the money ordered me by the King and payed for
the fees as followeth:

P. Sh. Pence
For drawing the bill 1 - -
Fees of the signet and privy seale 4 - -
To Sir Ph[ilip] Sidneyes609 clerk for ye docq[ue]t - 10 -
For my Lord Treasurers610 warrant 1 10 -
For entring the privy seale at my L-d Ashly611 - 5 -
For entering the privy seale at S[i]r Ro[ber]t Longs612 - 7 -
and the warrant
For entering the privy seale at ye Pells - 5 -
For entring the warrant at the Pell office - 2 -
For entring the order at the Pells - 6 -
For entring my L-d Treasurers order to strick
tallyes for 200 libs. at Sir Ro-t Longs at the Pells
and Mr. Shadwall - 7 6
{256} Sir Ro-t Longs fees for 200 l. st. 2 10 -
The fees at the Pell office 1 7 -
The tellers fees 6 7 -
For the tally - 2 -
To the cashirer at the Custome house for
expedition 1 - -
19 14 3

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 260 1667

For bringing the money from the Custome house - 2 10

19 17 1
To Mr. Perring, who by order went through all
these difficulties and intricacies, for his paines 5 - -
To his ser[van]t - 5 -
In all 25 2 1
609610611612

Haveing caused make cloaths ready for my self and suite after the new
fashion613, and haveing notice that the Kings letter was ready, I went and
tooke my leave of ffriends, first at Highgate by my Lord Lawderdale, who
was pleased to give me a letter to Doctor Davison614 in Polland for address
of the Kings letter in favour {256v} of my father in law, Coll. Ph. Alb.
von Bockhoven.

I entertained Mr. Cooke615 and these of the Secretary office, where I

had all the Russia merch-ts with ladyes and musick, which cost [ … ]. I gave
to Mr. Cooke 5 lib. st., to Mr. Tomkins 10 sh., to the door keepers 10 sh.

Received a letter from G-ll Dalyell, dated Kilmarnok 27 Dec-ris. Returned

an ans-r to his Ex[cellency] the same evening, which I sent in the black
boxe.

609
  Sir Philip Sidney (1619 – 1698), Viscount Lisle, later 3rd Earl of Leicester.
610
  Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton (1607 – 1667), Lord High Treasurer
of England from 1660.
611
  Anthony Ashley Cooper (1621 – 1683), Lord Ashley and Chancellor of the
Exchequer from 1661 to 1672, when he was created Earl of Shaftesbury.
612
  Sir Robert Long, 1st Baronet (ca.1600 – 1673), M.P., auditor of the Exchequer.
613
  In October 1666 King Charles II, as if challenging the French, ordained the intro-
duction of new dress. On the 8th Samuel Pepys wrote in his diary: “The King
hath yesterday in council declared his resolution of setting a fashion for clothes,
which he will never alter. It will be a vest, I know not well how. But it is to teach
the nobility thrift, and will do good” (The Diary of Samuel Pepys, vol. VII, p. 315).
Other contemporaries likened it to a cassock or even a Persian robe.
614
  Court doctor to the King of Poland. See above, fol. 6 v.
615
  John Cooke, clerk under Secretary of State Morice.

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I went to London and tooke my leave of ffriends there.

Received letters from Mosko from Mr. Bryan, dated Mosko 14 Dec-
ris, with letters from my wyfe and mother in law, to the w-ch I returned
answer by the first post.

{257} I went and tooke my leave of Prince Rupert, who was very sick616,
and told me he should writt to the Elector of Brandeburg and to Duke
Bogislaus Radzivil in favour of Coll. Bockhoven and send the letters after
me to Hamburg, commanding Mr. Hayes, his secretary, to mind him when
he should be a litle better.
Jan-ry 18. I was sent for to have my last audience of his Majesty, who
received me very graciously and delivered the letters to the Tzaar out of
his owne hands to me, desireing to be remembred to and salute his deare
and loveing brother, which promiseing to do, I then thanked his Ma-tie
for his great favours to me. So, being admitted to kiss his M. hand, I
tooke leave and was reconducted to my lodging; whither being come, and
lookeing to the superscription of the letter and found Illustrissimo written
for Serenissimo617, so I desired S[i]r John Hebdon to represent the business
to the Secretary of State, telling that I durst not for my head carry such
a letter with me, and that it was well knowne what a great deale of stirr
there had been in Mosko with {257v} the Earle of Carlisle in Mosko
about that word. The Secretary very readily promised to amend it.

The next day I was conducted to his Royall Hig[h]ness the Duke of
Yorke618, who with much favour received and dismissed me. I told his
H[ighness] that his Majesty had promised that I should have a catch to
waft me over to Flanders, and his H. said that he would give orders to Sir
W-m Coventry619 about it.

616
  Rupert (Ruprecht), Count Palatine of the Rhine (1619 – 1682), cousin of King
Charles II and royalist commander. His illness had to do with a head wound,
which necessitated a trepanation about a fortnight after this meeting with Gordon.
617
  “To the Most Illustrious” instead of “To the Most Serene” (Lat.).
618
  James, Duke of York and Albany (1633 – 1701), brother of King Charles II and later
King of Great Britain as James II (VII). At this time he headed the Royal Navy
as Lord High Admiral.
619
  Sir William Coventry (1627 – 1686), secretary to Lord High Admiral and commis-

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I went and tooke my leave of my Lord Chancellour, who was still sick of
the gout, in his lodgings in Barkshire House. He wondred that I had been
detained so long.

A clerke brought the Kings letter to me, amended in the title, with the
copy of it and a pass, to whom I gave 20 shillings.

Ja-ry 22.The King sent Sir Harbert Price620 to me to bring me to his Ma-tie
againe, whom wee found just comeing out of his bedchamber. The King
was pleased to speake {258} to me so: “Colonell Gordon, I have a servant
there in Russia called Gaspar Calthoffe621, for whom I have written diverse
tymes to your Emperour. I wonder that at our desire he doth not dismiss
him. Pray speake to the Emperour that he dismiss him”. I answered that
“How soone I shall have the honour to see his Imp[erial] M[ajesty], I shall
not faile to show Your M[ajesty’s] desire and pleasure”. His M. replyed:
“Pray do. I wish you a good jorney”.
Being returned to my lodging, I went and tooke my leave of Mr.
Secretary Morice, to whose kindnes being much obliged, I gave him
many thankes for his civilities and assistance, and entreated him to be
pleased to accept of a paire of sables worth 10 lib. st. as a token of my
love, and not as any recompence for his paines; which by no meanes he
would accept of.

I went and tooke my leave of the Earle of Middleton, to whose kindnes I

was very much obliged.

{258v} The copy of the Kings Letter to the Emperour of Russia:

sioner for the Navy. Ketch is a two-masted sailing vessel.

620
  Sir Herbert Price, Baronet (†1678), Master of the Household to King Charles II.
621
  Caspar Kalthoff Jr., master gunsmith who worked in the Netherlands and
for some years at Russian court. There is a gun made by him in the Moscow
Kremlin Museums (I am grateful for this information to E. Yablonskaya and V.
Novosiolov). He was not allowed to leave Moscow with the Earl of Carlisle, and
in 1670 King Charles II again addressed the tsar on Kalthoff ’s behalf.

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“Charles the Second, by the Grace of God King of England, Scotland,

France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith etc., to Our Dearly Beloved
Brother, the Most High, Most Potent and Most Serene Prince ye Great
Lord, Emperour and Great Duke Alexy Michaelowich etc. etc.
Most Excellent and Renowned Prince, Your Imperiall Ma[jes]ties
letters, bearing date the 29th of June last past, came to Our hands by
Yo[u]r Imperiall Ma-ties Colonell Patrick Gordon, being in answer to
Ours, dated from Our Court at Oxford the 29th day of December
last; wherein Wee are sorry to find Our self someq-t disappointed in
Our expectation[s] from Your Imperiall Ma-tie. For when Wee reflect
upon Yo[u]r Imp-ll M-tie, Our most dear and loveing Brothers most
kind expressions in severall former letters and ambassies to Us,
wherein Yo[u]r Imp-ll Ma-tie declared that the Brotherly Love and
Friendship, which Yo[u]r Imp-ll Ma-tie had for Us, was more then ever
had been befor between any of Our Royall Predecessours, and {259}
that Your Imp-ll Ma-ties esteeme towards Us was farr greater than
what Yo[u]r Imp-ll Ma-tie [hath] for any other Christian Prince; upon
the confidence whereof Wee gave You, Our Loveing Brother, Yo[u]r
Imp-ll Ma-tie, notice of the present warr Wee have with the Estates of
the Netherlands, [and] of the severall glorious victories which it hath
pleased God to give Us over them. In answer to which Wee cannot see
by Yo[u]r Imp-ll Ma-ties said letter that Yo[u]r Imp-ll Ma-tie discovers
any greater inclination or concerne for Us then for the said States, Our
enemies.
Also, in Our said letter, Wee gave Yo[u]r Imp-ll Ma-tie notice that
Wee, Our Royall M., had received advice that the subjects of the said
States of the Netherlands (Our enemyes) did furnish themselves out of
Yo[u]r Imp. M. Dominions with masts for ships and tarr for the use of
their ships of warr, which are employed against Us and Our Royall Navy.
And thereupon Wee desired Your Imp-ll Ma-tie, out of the Brotherly
love and affection w-ch Yo[u]r Imp-ll M. hath for Us, Our Royall Ma-tie,
not only to forbid the said subjects of the States of the Netherlands to
export any such navall provisions out of Your Imp-ll M. Dominions for
the future, but that on the contrary, Yo[u]r Imp-ll M. would give liberty to

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the officers of Our Navy or their assignes to buy up and transport out of
Your Imp-ll M. Dominions such masts and {259v} tarr as yearly for fyve
yeares to come should be by the said officers of Our Navy found neces-
sary for Our immediate service and the use of Our Royall Navy.
In answer to which Wee find O[u]r self obliedged to You, Our Most
Deare Brother, Yo[u]r Imperiall M., for the restriction which Yo[u]r Imp-ll
M. hath caused to be made both upon Yo[u]r Imp-ll M[ajesty’s] river of
Dwina and port of Archangell, that no man upon paine of death shall
dare to sell any navall provisions to the subjects of the States of the
Netherlands, nor they to buy or export any such out of Yo[u]r Imp-ll
Ma-ties Dominions. But to make the obligation compleat, Wee can expect
no lesse then y-t Yo[u]r Imp-ll M. should effectually comply with Our
former desires, that navall provisions for Our owne proper service and
the use of Our Royall Navy should be ffreely bought and transported out
of Your Imp-ll Ma-ties Dominions by such persons as ye officers of Our
Navy shall employ, and in such quantity as they shall desire. For otherwise
Wee shalbe no better treated by Your Imp-ll Ma-tie then Our enemyes are,
w-ch wilbe no waies suitable to the Brotherly professions Yo[u]r Imp-ll
Ma-tie hath made unto Us.
That the trade {260} of Our merchants is by Your Imp-ll Ma-ties order
forbidden for this yeare, by reason that Your Imp-ll M. hath been informed
by severall intelligences and printed gazetts, that the plague of pestilence
doth still rage in Our Royall Ma-ties Dominions, Wee might have hoped
that Yo[u]r Imp-ll Ma-tie would not give creditt to the printed papers and
artifices of Our enemyes, whose practice it hath been, and is, to give out to
the world that w-ch may most advance their designes, without any regard to
truth or falshood; when in this very particular Wee can assure Your Imperiall
Ma-tie, contrary to their malicious rumors, that the plague is totally ceassed
in Our Royall Citty of London and in all Our ports, for which infinite mercy
Wee give hearty thanks unto Almighty God. And as Wee doubt not but the
knowledge hereof will be most acceptable to Your Imp-ll Ma-tie, Our Most
Loveing Brother, so Wee will be confident that upon the receipt of these
Our letters Your Imp-ll Ma-tie will recall all prohibitions in that kind, so
that the next ships that shall come from O[u]r Kingdomes may with their

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merchants and merchandize be admitted to a ffreedom of {260v} trade in

Yo[u]r Imp-ll Ma-ties Dominions and ports as formerly.
What concernes the restauration of Yo[u]r Imp-ll Ma-ties priviledges
to Our subjects the merchants, seeing Wee cannot prevaill with Your
Imp-ll Ma-tie to grant them at present, though Wee cannot be satisfyed
with Your Imp-ll Ma-ties answers to that particular, yet Wee do in some
measure support Our patience with hope to find the same in short tyme
granted to Us, not doubting in ye least of Yo[u]r Imp-ll Ma-ties Brotherly
inclinations and reall performances.
So, wishing Your Imp-ll M., Our Most Dear and Loveing Brother, long
lyfe with a most happy and successefull reigne, haveing most graciously
dispatched Yo[u]r Imp-ll Ma-ties Colonell Patrick Gordon w[i]th these Our
Royall Ma-ties letters, Wee committ Yo[u]r Imp-ll Ma-tie to the protection
of Almighty God. Given at Our Court in Our Royall Citty of London the
27th of December 1666, in the eighteenth yeare of Our raigne”.622

{261} Haveing notice that the Baron d’Isola was come from the
Roman Emperour in the quality of Extraordinary Envoy and, his suite
not being arrived, he kep’t himself incognito, I sent to him to know if he
would be pleased to accept of a visitt without ceremony; which at first he
excused, yet bethinking himself, he condiscended. So I went thither in the
evening and had a long discourse with him concerning the passages of the

  This letter, delivered to Moscow by Gordon, survives in the original (RGADA, F.

622

35, op. 2, № 98). It is written in English on parchment (69,5 x 92 cm), margins

decorated with coats of arms and floral ornamentation in gold, the text much
damaged by dampness, discoloured and partly lost, the seal is missing. There is
a Russian note: “[In the year] 175 [1667] on June 10th the letter to the Great
Sovereign from the English King Charles, with Colonel Patricius Gordon”. The
date is not 27 December, but 25 January 1666 [1667], probably because it was
rewritten after Gordon pointed out an inaccuracy in the tsar’s title (see above, fols.
257 – 257 v.). However, the address, both on the reverse and in the text proper,
still contains “Most Illustrious”, not “Most Serene” as requested by Gordon. It
appears that the letter was copied without this change, either in haste, or even on
purpose, given the strained Russo-British relations of the period, so that Gordon
could not insist any more. Otherwise, except for small differences in spelling, the
Diary copy is true.

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moderne transactions. All the tyme he looked very earnestly on me and at

last he told me that he had seen me somewhere else, but could not call to
mind where. So I, thinking it uncivility to keep him in long suspence, told
him what I was, and of our Varsavian business.623 He rejoyced heartily at
my good fortune, he told me, and was sorry that I was going from thence
so soone. So, with a great many protestations of kindnes on both sides,
I tooke my leave, haveing great satisfaction to have seen such an eminent
person, to whose kindnes and inclinations I had been so much engaged.

{261v} Haveing given my bonvalete dinner to my friends at the signe of

the Cock, where wee were merry with musick, ladyes and choice company,
I caused pack up all, sending my trunks to Mr. Meverell624 to be sent by
shipping. I tooke only 2 great valizes with [me] and a red bagge, wherein
the Kings letter and best papers and things.

Jan-ry 27, Sun. I communicated in St. Jameses625, and after dinner, take-
ing leave of my good landlord and landlady, as of Madam Lesly and her
daughter, Mrs. Charles, I tooke coach and went for Peckham, from whence
I did writt the following letter to Sir W-m Coventry:

“Right Hon-ble,
I should have wished that by this tyme I had been engaged to returne
a thankfull acknowledgment to Yo[u]r H[onour] for giveing order for
transporting me out of his R[oyal] M[ajesty’s] dominions. But being disap-
pointed of my expectation, I could do no less as notify and represent the
case to you.
623
  Baron Lisola formerly tried to engage Gordon into Austrian service. See above, fols.
114 v. – 120 v.
624
  Evidently, Samuel Меverell or Meverall (†1696/7), prominent English merchant in
Russia, later treasurer of the Russia Company in London. He was Gordon’s friend
and correspondent.
625
  It is impossible to believe that Gordon, an ardent Roman Catholic, could receive
communion in some Anglican church, which is implied in old Russian editions of
the Diary. Clearly, St. James’s Palace is meant here, whither he had access. King
Charles’s Portuguese consort had her own Catholic chapel in the palace, and there
were many “papists” at court, who employed personal chaplains.

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The King, out of the affection his R. M. hath for the Emperour my
Master, was graciously pleased, when I tooke my leave of his Ma-tie,
to grant me a vessell {262} to transport me to Flanders, and his Roy.
H[ighness] was pleased to second his M. will by speaking to you. I ques-
tion not but it is well knowne to you, that there never cometh any person
of never so meane a character upon a publick acco-t, from any prince
or state to his Imp-ll Ma-tie my Master, but is attended from and to the
borders of his dominions, and furnished with all the conveniencies the
countrey affoords, expecting the same reciprocally from others.
It is no wonder if I be troubled at my delay, serving such a Master
whose will is no sooner knowne as executed, and will scarcely beleeve or
think it strange not to heare the lyke of any other Prince in such a case as
myne. If the season of the yeare could permitt or I be answerable for my
longer stay, I would be loth to be so importune, and likewise, if it were not
to betray my trust, I should be very sparing in the relation to my Master
of the occasion of my detention. But since now of necessity I must take
the first conveniency, and if that be the pacquet boat, if I shall chance to
be rob’d, his Ma-ties letters and effaires, w-ch concerns the good of the
English nation, miscarry, where the blame will ly, I leave it to your selfe to
conjecture. Yet, hopeing still that you will send an order, {262v} which,
with your ans-r, by this my servant I shall expect at Greenwich, at the signe
of the [ … ]”

This produced an order to the captaines of the “Swallow” and “Hawke”,

to either of them lying in the Downes, to take me in and waft me over to
Flanders.

Jan-ry 28. I received a note from Lt. Gen-ll Drummond, desireing to know
where he could speake w[i]t[h] me in the evening. I sent him word that at
the Beare at the Bridgefoot626 I should wait for him at two aclock after-
noone. So, haveing dined with Sir John Hebdon and other friends, I went
thither, whither also came the Lt. Gen-ll about halfe an howre thereafter.

  A well-known tavern of the period.

626

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He gave me a full power to recover 2,000 rubles from Mr. James Cooke,
merch-t in Mosko, which he remained indebted to him, as also a letter to
Doctor Collins to deliver me his bond. Haveing supped and remembred
our ffriends in hearty cups, wee parted.
James Burnet of Leyes haveing most earnestly entreated me for the lend
of 5 lib. st., I sent a note to Mr. Peter Webster to deliver him the money.
{263} 29, Tues. After breakfast I went to Greenwich, Sir John with his
whole family convoying me, whither came also all the Russia merch-ts and
other ffriends, where wee supped and were exceeding merry.
30. At one after midnight, the tyde serving, I tooke leave of our kind
friends and tooke boate, comeing by day light to Gravesend, where break-
fasting, I hired horses and towards night came to Sandwich, where I lodged.
31. I came to Deale and immediately caused enquire for the ketches to
whom I had orders, but could gett no notice of them.

{263v} Feb-ry 1, Frid. Sir John Kempthorne627 lying in Downes at anchor

with his squadron, I went aboard of him and shewed him my order. He
told me that these ketches might have been here and gone, for any thing he
knew, they not belonging to him, and that without express orders from the
L-d High Admirall he could not affoord me any vessell. Being returned to
my lodging, I immediately did writt by post to Sir W-m Coventry, inform-
ing him that there were no such ketches in the Downes as he had given me
order to; who the next day returned me answer that, the wind serving, the
ketches it seemes had followed their former orders, and that he could not
forsee any occasion whereby I could be served in hast. So I resolved to go
to Dover and take the packet-boat.
2. The Great Field Generall and Crowne Marshall of Polland Geor.
Seb. Lubomirsky dyed in Breslaw628.

{264} 4, Moon. I rode to Dover, being rainy, unpleasant weather, and

lodged by Mr. Tours, at the signe of the Prince of Orange.
627
  John Kempthorne (ca.1620 – 1679), English rear admiral. He was knighted later, in
1670.
628
  Wrocław. This entry was obviously added later.

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5. I passed the tyme in viewing from the high ground the coast of
France, which, albeit a darkish day, wee could plainly discerne.
About midnight wee were told to make ready to go aboard, which,
haveing pay’d dear for naughty entertainment and sweet musick,
6. wee
did about 2 aclock in the morning. Wee were tossed hither and thither
the whole day betwixt Calais and Graveling, and the next night too, and
had enough to do the next day to gett to Newport late, I haveing been
extremly seasick all the tyme.
8. Wee went by boat to Bruges and tooke up my old lodging; after-
wards went with the English Resident Mr. Glanvile to the Vrie and with
other ffriends were merry till midnight.
9. Haveing heard masse at the Nunnery after the Princes pallace and
taken leave of the prioress and sisters, being convoyed by the English
resident and other ffriends, I went to the boat and with good company
gott in the evening {264v} to Ghent; and haveing left orders for supper
in our lodging, I went with Charles to the Nunnes Monastery and spoke
with Mrs. Plowden and her daughter, the Lady Abbess. Haveing stayed
an howre and taken leave, I returned to my lodging, where with two yong
Irish men, who were to go for Antwerp, wee made merry the most part
of the night in wine De Eye.
Feb. 10. I went early and heard mass in the Cathedrall church, and
then haveing breakfasted in our lodging, being the signe of the Great
Starr, wee tooke horse, leaving Mr. Divee629 with Charles to come with
our baggage. Wee passed through a most pleasant countrey and about
2 aclock afternoone came to Antwerp, ferrying over the r. Sheld, and
lodged at the signe of Bear on the Market place, where round the
court within on great [shields?] were painted the armes of diverse Polls,
ambitious if not vaineglorious gentlmen, for a remembrance of their
haveing been there. In the evening I went and visited my good friend and

  Although the name does not look British, this could be Samuel son of Daniel
629

“Div”, who appears as an English merchant in Russian records from 1663 to

1674 (A.V. Diomkin, op. cit., p. 36).

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acquaintance Sir W-m Davidson, by whom I found myn Heer630 van der
Hurst, one of the States Gen-ll, who had fled with Mr. Kivet about the
{265} business of Ruitm-r Buat.
11. My brother in law came with the baggage. It being now the
Bacchanalia631, wee had good divertisment on the Market place this and
the next day.
13. Haveing heard mass in the Jesuits church and breakfasted, I tooke
leave of the 2 Irish men, who were notable sparkes, and went to the boat.
Wee went downe the r. Sheld by Toelen and Wilhelmstadt to Dort, where
only changing boats wee went towards Rotterdam. And by the way being
forced to stay, I left the boat, recommending the baggage to Mr. Deeve
and my brother in law, ordering them to call for me at the White Hart in
Amsterdam.
I walked with others on foot to Roterdam, from thence to Delft and to
the Hague, where I lodged. And getting up early, I came to Leyden, where
knowing that Mr. Georg Gordon was there in the Academy at his studyes,
I sent for him, who came to me with on[e] Mr. Lawder. Wee haveing made
merry for an howre, they convoyed me to the boat and so parted. I came
the same night, though late, to Amsterdam
15. and lodged in the Scots Armes
on the Sea-dyke.
17. My brother in law came with the baggage, and for reasons [I] per-
mitted them to lodge at ye White Hart.
{265v} I did writt to Sir John Hebdon and to his son, the esquire.
I hired my fraught in a ship to Hamborg.
Dined by Mr. Gibson.
Feb. 19. I tooke shipping and
20. the next day came to Enckhuisen, where
the wind proveing contrary, I payed my fraught and going ashore,
23. caused set
me over to Staveren. For hearing of a ballet to be held by the Queen

630
  Mister (Dutch).
631
  Apparently, carnival.

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Christina of Schweden632 at Hamborg the 4th of March, I intended to gett

thither befor that tyme. So, hireing a waggon, wee passed by Bolquerum633
on o[u]r right hand to Hindlopen, from thence to Workum, to Bolswaert
and to Leevarden, whither wee came in the morning; then
24. to Dockum
and to Groeningen, whither wee came in the evening and were very well
accommodated.
25. In the morning wee passed to Dam and to Delfzyl. It being a great
storme, wee could not gett over to Embden as I intended, so stayed all
night here. I againe let my self be perswaded to go to sea againe, the peo-
ple there assuring me that in 3 or 4 dayes I could gett to Hamborg, which
I could not do by land, and that, whither there be wind or no, the vessells
could go over the Watten, as they call them, which is a passage betwixt
small islands and the firme land.
{266} 26. Wee went aboard of a small vessel and passed by a small
islandt called Bandt, haveing Borkum and Juist, 2 bigger islandts, further of.
27. So, haveing the countrey of East Frieslandt on our right, wee
passed by the illand Northerny on the left, and in the night by the illand
Baltring634;
28. then by the illands Langeroeg, Spikeroog to Wangeroog,
March 1, Frid. whither wee
came the 1st of March, haveing with great impatience endured a slow
and tedious voyage for want of good wind, so that I often perswaded the
master of the ship to take out to sea, which he excused for want of ballast.
The wind blowing exceeding cross, wee were forced to stay here at
anchor till the 5th, when about midday wee set saile, bidding adiew to the
wast, sandy, barren illand, where nothing but some poor fisher cottages
and ane alehouse which the shults635 [keeps], who (as he said) had been a
lievt. in the warrs.

632
  Christina Augusta (1626 – 1689), Queen of Sweden from 1632 to 1654, when she
abdicated and converted to Catholicism.
633
  Molkwerum.
634
  Norderney and Baltrum.
635
  Schulze (German) – village elder.

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Wee sailed in company of 60 or 70 small vessels with a pretty gale by

the gulfe or bay and the river Jada. A litle further the seamen told us of
a drowned illand and castle called Mellum, by the mouth of the
{266v} March 5, Tues. river
Weser. Then, casting about, wee came with a pretty favourable gale to
the mouth of the river Elbe and up the river some miles.
Towards evening wee perceived a huge tempest comeing downe the
[river], encreasing so darke and black as at midnight, which put us in no
small feare, and the rather seeing some vessells, which kep’t us company
hither, putting out to sea againe, which our master seeing, would needs
follow, but I would not permitt him: that when I desired him in fair
weather to put out to sea, he would not for want of ballast, and now, how
thought he to be able to keep sea in a storme without ballast? He proveing
obstinate, I told him he must choyce either to run ashore or ride it out at
anchor, which last with great reluctancy he choiced. So, haveing notice of
new cables and anchors in the hold, with the help of my servants and pas-
sengers wee haled them out (much against the skippers will, who told he
would complaine upon me in Hamborg) and fastened all so well {267} as
wee could. And seeing mountaines of ice comeing downe the river upon
us, wee provided our selves of long poles to keep of the ice. So wee con-
tinued working the whole night, and,
6. notwithstanding all wee could do, at
day light wee had a mountaine of ice gathered befor us, much higher as
our bogesprit636, which wee could not gett our selves cleered of till after
midday, notwithstanding the storme and wind was much abated. Towards
evening wee gott up as farr as Brunsbottell, and because of the contrary
wind were forced to anchor there againe, and
7. stay till the next day about
noone. Then with a great deale of labour wee gott up to Gluckstat, where
I went immediately ashore and tooke up a lodging, intending to go by
land to Hamborg. In the evening Mr. Deeve with our baggage came also
ashore.

636
  Boegspriet (Dutch) – bowsprit.

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8, Frid. Haveing hired a great waggon with 4 horses, haveing in com-

pany a sea captaine and another captaine with his wyfe, and it being very
cold, wee caused a great deale of straw to be put into the waggon, which
{267v} on the way gave occasion of laughter and loss. For the captaines
wyfe, sitting on a bench with her husband in the midle of the waggon,
and haveing a pott with coales in a woodden case (as the fashion is) the
straw tooke fyre, so that wee had enough ado to gett from the waggon.
Yet, whilst her husband and the other captaine were striveing to dampfe or
stifle it with their hatts and clocks, I had leasur to throw out our clockbags,
which were behind us in the waggon. Yet I had some holes burn’t in my
new ferendine clock, and Mr. Deeve had a litle bagge with stockens and
other things to the value of 15 or 20 r. dollers burn’t. But the two capt-s
clocks and hatts were utterly spoiled; and what harme the woman had, was
only fitt for her husband to enquire.
Towards night wee came to Hamborgh, I going to my old quarters to
lodge, where I was very welcome. Here to my grieffe I was informed that
the ballet was the 4th.
{268} 9. Coll. Gordon Steelhand, haveing notice of my being come,
came to me, and afterwards Mr. Cambridge, who brought me a packet
of letters from Russia, from Mr. Brian, dated in Mosko [ … ] Jan-ry ’67;
from my wyfe and mother in law of the same date and of the 17 Dec-ris
’66.
Received letters from Mr. Andrew Hay with a letter to the Elector of
Brandeburg and ane other to Duke Boguslaw Radzivill in favour of Coll.
Bockhoven, both under seale volant from Prince Rupert, of whose recov-
ery I had also the glad newes, dated London 13 Feb.
Received letters also from Sir John Hebdon and his son the squire.
10. I went to Altenaw and heard devotion. Being returned, Coll.
Malyson sent an officer to welcome me, excuseing that he himself was
bedsick, telling me that hearing I was come in a private way, he desired me
to make use of his coach and servants, w-ch he would take for a singular
courtesy, and that dureing my stay there. I rendred many thanks and prom-
ised, how soone I could, to returne his kind visitt.
I dined with {268v} Steelhand, whither in the afternoone came

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Feltmarshall Wurtz637, who hearing of my being come to the citty, came of

purpose to gett Steelhand to go along with him to give me a visitt. I gave
him many thankes, and telling his Ex[cellency] that I tooke it for a singular
favour and his good intention for a visitt, the same evening I went and
visitted Coll. Malyson, who was sick and under phisick. He made us very
welcome and pressed me to accept of his coach and servants dureing my
stay, seeing he could not himself; which I promised to do.
Here I gott notice of my old master the noble Lubomirsky his death,
who dyed the 2d of Febr. in Breslaw.
12. Feltmarshall Wurts gave me a visitt and stayed, discoursing together
of old and moderne stories two howres. The same day many other cava-
liers came and gave me visitts.
I had notice of the 13 yeares truce betwixt the Emperour of Russia
and the King of Polland.638
{269} Finding my lodging unfitt for me for many reason[s], I removed
to the New Towne and lodged in the signe of the White Horse, where I
had better convenience in every thing.
March 15. I did writt to Russia to my wyfe, mother in law, Mr. Bryan
and Almais Ivanovits; as also to England to Sir John Hebdon and his son,
to Mr. Andrew Hay; to Scotland to my father, to G-ll Dalyell and Lt. G-ll
Drummond; to Mr. Glanvile in Bruges and Mrs. Plowden in Ghent; to
Doctor Davison in Varsso; to Mr. Gellentin in Dantzik639, to whom I sent
the letter from his M[ajesty] of Great Brittaine to the King of Polland
in favour of Coll. Bockhoven, as also the letter from Pr. Rupert to Duke
Boguslaw Radzivil recommended to him. Writt also to Lt. Coll. Bruce,
who was commendant in Magdeborg, recommending to him the letter
from Pr. Rupert to the Elector of Brandeburgh. Writt also to Mr. Ayloffe
in Riga, and to his care letters to Coll-s Forrat and Odovern.
637
  See above, fol. 7 v.
638
  The long-awaited Russo-Polish truce was signed on 30 January 1667 in the village
of Andrusovo near Smolensk. Rzeczpospolita acknowledged Russian sovereignty
over the provinces of Smolensk and Severia, Left-Bank Ukraine and (initially for
two years) the city of Kiev with its district.
639
  Probably a kinsman of the Scot Thomas Gellenty, prominent shipowner in Gdańsk
at that time.

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Writt to Mr. Joseph W[illia]msone.640

I delivered Steelhands writeings and passes to him, but received no
money, he remaining upon this acco-t due to me 15 libs. st.
{269v} I gave a visitt to Field Marshall Wurtz and to some others who
had visitted me.

Queen Christina being here, and I finding it fitt to pay my duty to her
M[ajesty], gave notice of my desire to kiss her M. hands, which she very
readily granted. So I went thither with Steelhand, and haveing given notice,
I was introducted by an Italian Marquesse to a large roome, where the
Queen was standing at the upper end of the roome. How soon she saw
me and that after my first reverence I advanced, she made hast to meet
me; and notwithstanding my dilligence, she did meet me near halfe the
roome and, pulling of her glove, she presented me her hand w-ch, bowing,
I kissed; then spoke in high Dutch to her Ma-tie a very short oration. She
haveing thanked me, invited me as it were to go up and downe the roome
with her, which I did a litle backward, discoursing with her M. about halfe
an howre. Then, haveing heard a very short masse in the same roome, I
tooke my leave, being convoyed downe staires to my coach by a gentlman.

{270} 20. Hearing that Mr. Jehan van Sweden641 with his family was
come to Lubeck and going for Russia, I went to Lubeck to consult with
him about our passage. I lodged a night by the way and
640
  This entry is crossed out in MS. Joseph Williamson (1633 – 1701) was secretary
to Lord Arlington (minister of King Charles II), founder of London Gazette in
1665, and later M.P., knight, Secretary of State and second president of the Royal
Society. Gordon met him in London and kept an interesting correspondence
with him, published by S. Konovalov: “Patrick Gordon’s Dispatches from Russia,
1667”, Oxford Slavonic Papers, XI (1964), pp. 8 – 16; “Sixteen Further Letters of
General Patrick Gordon”, ibid., XIII (1967), pp. 72 – 95.
641
  Johan van Sweden, Dutch merchant based in Moscow in 1650s and 60s. On tsar’s
commission he hired abroad shipwrights and mariners, including the Irishman
David Butler, who became captain of Russia’s first warship, “Oriol”, and acquired
instruments for shipbuilding. He was also involved in arranging the Russian
postal service.

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21. the next day

about noone came thither. So wee resolved to take our passage from
Lubeck by sea; and by his perswasion I resolved to come and stay in his
lodging and take my dyet and chamber there, being mor quiet and farr
lesse expensive liveing as at Hamborg.
23. So the next day I went for Hamborg againe.
Writt to my wyfe and mother in law in a coverto to Mr. Bryan and to
Doctor Collins, to Mr. Joseph W[illia]mson642.
I received 80 r. dollers in specy from Henry Poorten upon a bill of
exchange from Sir John Hebdon.

Rec-d letters from Mr. Ben. Glanvile, one dated Bruges 14 Feb., the other
dated Oostend 16 Feb., with a full power to persue and recover his debts
from Mr. Henry Krevett643 in Russia.

{270v} I was by Mr. Zelmer and see his horses.

At the Bremer house.

Two colonells, Shults and Olefelt, would needs be going for Russia with
their officers, from which I diswaded them; that the Emperour haveing
dissmissed so many officers who had served and were acquainted in the
countrey, it was not lykely that he would accept of new, seeing by the
peace with Polland there was litle to do. And with much trouble I got them
perswaded to stay so long untill I should returne them an answer from
Mosko, if they could be accepted or not; to which purpose they gave me
a memoriall subscrived with their hands.

I was entertained in the English house.

642
  This entry was obviously added later. The letter to Joseph Williamson, dated Lübeck
22 March 1667, is preserved at the National Archives (Public Record Office) in
London (SP 82/11, fol. 101), and published by S. Konovalov.
643
  Henry Krevett, English merchant active in Muscovy from 1660s, and later inter-
preter of the Russian Embassy Office, who became influential under Tsar Peter
the Great.

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 1667 277

I did writt to Dantzick to Mr. John Gellentin.

March 30. I did writt to Coll. More in Buxtehude and the

31. next day
received ans-r.
I confessed and received the Blessed Sacrament in Altenaw.

{271} Apr. 1, Moon. Being resolved to go to Lubeck, I tooke my leave

of ffriends, as of Field Marshall Wurtz, Coll. Malyson and the English
merch-ts, and last of all of Coll. Gordon Steelhand.
2. I borrowed 100 dollers of Mr. Cambridge, giveing a bill upon Mr.
Herman Becker to pay to Mr. Ben. Ayloffe, with a letter of advice to
Herman Becker.
This same evening I tooke my leave of the Queen of Sweden, who was
very gracious to me.
Rec-d l-rs from Sir John Hebdon, dated Peckam 1 Mar.
3. I went for Lubeck, lodging by the way. The innes where wee should
have breakfasted being in the night burn’d of, wee breakfasted in a pawres
house by the same landlord, to whom wee contributed largely upon ye
acco-t of his losse. By the way a merch-t in the coach shott the master of
the coach through the legg, holding a pistoll negligently in his hand.

6. Writt to Steelhand.
8. Writt to Hendry Poorten, and the 12th to him also.

Rec-d a letter from Hen. Poorten, dat. Hamb[urg] 10 Ap[ril] and

another, dated 19 Apr.
Rec-d a letter from Steelhand, dat. Hamb. 13 Apr.

{271v} April 18. I did writt to Coll. Malyson, thanking him for his
civilityes.
I was entertained in the Ratsheer Keller644.

  Wine cellar of the city council (German).

644

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 278 1667

At a feast by Jost Poorten.

By Jehan van Goren, entertained liberally.
20. Writt to my wyfe and her mother in a coverto to Mr. Bryan.
I was in Grinaw w[i]t[h] Mr. van Sweden.
I entertained the officers, who had been in Russia.
I bought a black ston’d horse and gave 40 r. dol. for him.

24. Writt to my father, addressed to Mr. Rany in London.

Wee haveing hired a galliot to Riga for 200 r. dollers, and the season serv-
ing, wee went downe to Travemunde, where wee spent two dayes with
shipping in our horses and baggage. And so, takeing leave of Mr. Poorten,
Mr. Ivings and Mr. [ … ], who had convoyed us from Lubeck and stayed
here with us so long; and I particularly of Capt. Kauffman, who had been
my lieftennant whilst I was under the Sweds in Stum, and furnished me
now with a bed.
Wee set saile on the 28, and with a gentle gale made good way.

{272} May 1, Wed. Wee passed by Borneholme with a strong gale, which
made all of us seasick, the wind being too violent; and the horses (whereof
wee had 22 aboord) breaking the traveses, and no body able to mend them,
by the perswasion of the master of the ship wee returned to Bornholme,
being 8 leagues, and anchored safely.
2. Haveing mended the traveses, and the wind calmer, wee set saile very
early and with good weather arrived in the river Dwina the 6th, the master
of the galliot, called Wulffe, professing to have had a very good passage. I
went ashore with Mr. van Sweden and went to Herman Beckers countrey-
house, whither by chance he came and made us welcome; so that about
midnight wee came to Riga and stayed all night in his house.
7. The next day I went to my owne lodging in the suburbs.
I rec-d letters from Mosko from my wyfe and mother [in law] and Mr.
Bryan, dated 4 Mar.; from Doctor Collins, dated 2 Mar.; ano-r from Mr.
Bryan, dat. 17 Mar.; from John Gellentin, dated Dantzick 22 April; from
Doctor Davidson, dated Varso 21 and 28 Apr., with encloseds from him

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 1667 279

to my L-d Lawderdale and Sir W-m Davidson, being answers to myne

from Hamborg, and giveing me an acco-t of the letters and business about
Coll. Bockhoven; from Lt. Coll. Bruce, also about the same business, dated
Magdeburg 15 Aprilis.
{272v} May 8, Wed. Our horses being brought all out of the ship
and passed toll free under my name, the governour generall desired that
they might be brought through the castle, which being done, he fancyed
my black horse and sent to me, desireing me to let him have him, and
he would give me either money or another for him. I answered that the
horse indeed was not to be sold, yet seing he had a fancy for him, he
was at his service, and that I would take it for a great favour, if he would
be pleased to accept of him; and sent him along to his Exc[ellency] with
one of my servants. But he would not accept of him, and gave me many
thanks for the offer.
I being invited by Mr. Clayhills to his brandy house, went with Capt.
Gordon, Mr. Ayloffe and Finlay Downy, and were merry. I bought my bay
horse from Mr. Clayhills and gave for him with sadle, sherbrake and hul-
sters my sable furr and 12 r. dollers. He gave me also Cambdens Brittannia645.
9. I hired horses and waggons to Plesko, haveing Mr. Isaack and Mr.
Deeve still in my company.
{273} 10. I did writt to Mr. Gellentin, Doctor Davidson, to Sir
W-m Davidson, to Capt. Kauffman and to Steelhand, giveing of Capt.
Kauffmans bed to the shipper Wulffe. Writt to Mosko to my wyfe, [her]
mother, Mr. Bryan and Doctor Collins.
11. Being invited to Mr. Herman Beckers, I went and with Mr. von
Sweden and his family and diverse were magnificently entertained. The
same day, haveing taken my leave of my ffriends who convoyed me out of
towne, I went from Riga and came to Plesko the 17th, where the woywod
upon pretence that the pest was in England, but in reality that I would
not let him have my black horse, which he fancyed, detained me till the

  William Camden (1551 – 1623), English antiquarian and historian. His great work
645

Britannia, first published in Latin in 1586, was translated into English and went
through many editions. It is a detailed survey of Great Britain and Ireland, with a
wealth of information on natural features, archaeology, history etc.

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 280 1667

24; when, receiving my podwods, our company being augmented with Mr.
Henry Munter646 and a poor fellow our pristaw, I tooke my jorney and the
27 came to Novogrod, and the 2d of June to Torczok, the 3d to Twere,
the 4th to Klin and the 5th to Axinina, where I had orders to stay untill I
should give {273v} notice to the Ambassy Office and get licence to come
to Mosko. I dispatched my pristave immediately away with the letters from
the governour of Plesko, wherein was my testimony or skaska647 y-t there
was no pestilence more in England nor in any place through which I had
passed.
June 6, Thur. About 8 aclock in the morning my father in law648 with
Mr. Bryan came and brought an order that I should go to the Slaboda and
stay there till further orders. I came to the Slaboda and was with great joy
welcomed by my wyfe and ffriends.

The following dayes I received the visitts and gratulations of my ffriends.

{274} Being at last permitted to come into the Prikase, I presented his
M[ajesty’s] letters to the boyar and gave thereby my statine knigy649, or a rela-
tion of my negotiation. The boyar told me that I must have a litle patience
befor I could be admitted to his Ma-ties hand.

I presented my father in law with the black horse with sadle, pistols and
compleet furniture.

June 25. According to my promise in Hamborg, I caused enquire if two

colonells could be admitted to come in to serve with their officers, but
no possibility, seing so many brave cavaliers had been dismissed, who had

646
  Heinrich Münter, rich merchant from Riga, Swedish subject, who traded in Russia
since the 1660s.
647
  Skazka (Russian) here means report.
648
  Colonel Philipp Albert van Bockhoven finally got his freedom after the Russo-
Polish truce.
649
  Stateinye knigi (Russian). The royal letter delivered by Gordon bears a note that he
handed it in on 10 June 1667 (RGADA, F. 35, op. 2, № 98). His official account
of the mission has not yet come to light.

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 1667 281

served here so long and knew the fashion of the countrey. Whereupon I
did writt to Hamborg to Coll. Shults and informed him thereof, and also
to Coll. Gordon to the same purpose.

Writt to Capt. Gordon and Mr. Clayhills in Riga.

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VolumeTwo.indd 282 25/01/2011 11:25:03
 Index of persons and places

Abbas II, Shah of Persia, 158

Aberdeen, 216, 255
Abernethy, James, Colonel, 195
Adergasse, Major General, 21, 150
Adolf Johann, Prince, 12
Airth, Walter, Officer, 131, 141
Akinfov, I.P., Stolnik, 95
Albertina, 245
Alexandria, 103
Alexey Mikhailovich, Tsar of Russia, ‘Emperor’, 63, 87, 102, 119, 121, 132, 137,
142, 146, 151, 154, 155, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 165, 169, 172, 173, 174, 175, 177,
179, 180, 181, 184, 185, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 197, 199, 202, 207, 208, 212, 213,
214, 215, 218, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 230, 250, 251, 258, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265,
267, 274, 276, 280
Aller (Alre), 236
Altona (Altenaw), 235, 273, 277
Amsterdam, 244, 270
Annand, John, surgeon, 156, 157, 164, 166, 169, 171, 220
Antwerp, 269
Archangel, 182, 264
Ardenburg, 244
Arnheim, John von, Captain, 132
Aronna, 66
Arshinevsky, Nikolay, 215
Ashley, Lord, 259
Atrepiev, 198
Auchleuchries, 173, 250, 253, 255
Augustów, 129
Austria, 63
Axinino, 280

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 284 Diary of General Patrick Gordon

Ayloffe, Benjamin, merchant, 232, 233, 274, 277, 279

Ayscue, Captain, 241
Ayscue, Mrs., 241, 242, 243
Ayscue, Sir George, Vice Admiral, 240

Babimost, 33, 34
Bailzie, Jean, 164
Bailzie, Thomas, Colonel, 164
Bakałarzewo, 129
Balfour, Corporal, 105
Baltic Sea, 18
Baltrum (Baltring), 271
Bandt, 271
Bannerman, Ms., 144, 156
Banser, Paul, Wachtmeister, 25, 91
Baranów, 49, 66
Baronius, Caesar, Cardinal, 51
Bashmakov, Dementy, Dumny Dyak, 208
Basia, 118, 147, 169
Battersly, Mr., 256
Baturin, 185
Bauske, 21, 130
Bdo, 26
Bechler, John, Colonel, 164
Becker, Herman, merchant, 232, 277, 278, 279
Belgorod, 186
Bełz, 94, 107
Benjamin, 212
Benyon, Robert, apothecary, 153, 164
Berezayka, 228
Berlips, Lt. Colonel, 10, 11

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 Index 285

Bethlen, 209
Biała Cerkiew, 103
Bialla, 56, 57, 62, 65
Biecz, 48, 107, 114
Bielefeld (Bilvelt), 237
Bielke, Steno, Count, 119
Bielsky, Marshal, 21
Bienewsky, Stanisław, Palatine, 94
Birny, James, merchant, 122
Blackhall, 47
Black River, 231
Blankenberge, 245
Blonska, widow, 4
Bochnia, 46
Bochotnicze, 115
Bockhoven, Catherine, Patrick Gordon’s wife, 169, 170, 171, 172, 190,
191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205,
206, 207, 208, 212, 213, 218, 230, 233, 236, 246, 247, 253, 254, 255, 256,
257, 258, 261, 273, 274, 276, 278, 279, 280
Bockhoven, Charles, 214, 224, 225, 227, 241, 250, 251, 252, 254, 269, 270
Bockhoven, Colonel, 198, 253
Bockhoven, Cornelius, Colonel, 152, 165, 169, 171, 212, 218
Bockhoven, Mrs., 169, 170, 171, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198,
199, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 211, 213, 214, 225, 230, 233, 236,
246, 247, 253, 254, 255, 257, 258, 261, 273, 274, 276, 278, 279
Bockhoven, Philip, Colonel, 169, 170, 171, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 188,
192, 194, 196, 197, 199, 200, 201, 202, 204, 206, 207, 208, 211, 214, 225,
254, 258, 260, 261, 273, 274, 279, 280
Bockum, Johann, Colonel, 83
Bogdan, writer, 91
Bolkhov, 186, 190
Bolsward, 271
Bomatuthil, 253
Bommel, 240, 241

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 286 Diary of General Patrick Gordon

Boreel, Jacob, Ambassador, 165

Boriatinsky, Y.N., Prince, 100, 102, 205
Borisow, 147, 150
Borkum, 271
Bornholm, 234, 235, 278
Borzna, 180
Bosnia, 63
Boulogne, 248
Bowman, Nikolaus, Lt. General, 181, 199
Brandenburg, 122, 238, 240, 261, 273, 274
Brandt, Colonel, 105, 106
Brasla, 231
Braunsberg (Braniewo), 22
Breslau (Wrocław), 268, 274
Brest, 147
Briansk (Brensko), 186, 189, 196
Briukhovetsky, I.M., Hetman, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 185, 189,
195
Brömsebro, 234
Bronnitsa (Brunits), 136, 229
Bronsky, Commendant, 20, 21, 23, 24
Bruce, John, 197
Bruce, Lt. Colonel, 274, 279
Bruges, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 248, 253, 254, 255, 269, 274, 276
Brunsbüttel, 272
Brunswick, 236
Bryan, Mrs., 192, 193
Bryan, Ms., 192, 193, 195, 197, 200, 202, 206, 207
Bryan, Thomas, merchant, 183, 232, 233, 235, 236, 247, 250, 253, 254,
257, 258, 261, 273, 274, 276, 278, 279, 280
Brzozów (Bresov), 107, 108, 114
Buat, Henry, Rittmeister, 244, 270
Bückeburg (Bickeborg), 237
Bug, 67, 68, 129

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 Index 287

Bulgaria, 63
Burnet, Andrew, Major, 129, 141, 164, 165, 219
Burnet of Leys, James, 7, 268
Butrimov, Major, 198
Buxtehude, 277
Buy, Colonel de, 68
Bychow, 147, 150, 173
Bzura (Ezeura), 8

Cadzand, 242
Calais, 249, 269
Calderwood, Andrew, Officer, 141
Calthoff, Caspar, 262
Calvucci, Orazio, Baron, 149
Camamet Murza, 97, 99, 102
Cambridge, Nathaniel, merchant, 235, 236, 248, 273, 277
Camden, William, 279
Campbell, Captain, 191
Campen, Colonel van, 199
Canterbury, 249
Carlisle, Charles, Earl of, 182, 183, 186, 188, 189, 190, 197, 198, 217, 223,
257, 261
Carlisle, Lady, 182
Carmichael, Mungo, Colonel, 164
Carmichael, widow, 164
Carpathians, 44, 55, 57, 62, 63, 65
Carril, Mr., 258
Celary, Major General, 68, 83
Celle (Zell), 236
Charles I, King of Great Britain, 222, 258
Charles II, King of Great Britain, 62, 106, 121, 154, 197, 217, 219, 221,

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 288 Diary of General Patrick Gordon

222, 223, 224, 239, 244, 245, 247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 256, 258, 259,
260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 274, 280
Charles, Mrs., 266
Chęciny (Chentshin), 115
Cherkassky, Y.K., Prince, 181, 186, 189, 196, 198, 199
Cherkizovo, 226
Chinek, Cornet, 86
Chmielnitsky, Bogdan, Hetman, 6
Chmielnitsky, Timofey, 6
Chmielnitsky, Yury, Hetman, 6, 80, 81, 87, 91, 92, 93, 163, 174, 175
Chornaya (Czarna), 229
Chorowa, 69
Christina Augusta, Queen of Sweden, 271, 275, 277
Clarendon, Lord Chancellor, 252, 253, 254, 256, 262
Clayhills, Mr., 279, 281
Cleves, Duchy, 240
Climent Fare, 16
Clough, Mr., 255, 256
Cluisemunde, 235
Ćmielów, 115
Cobersky, Jan, gentleman, 5, 48
Cobersky, Podstarosta, 62
Colebrook, 255
Collins, Samuel, Doctor, 153, 156, 217, 232, 233, 236, 247, 250, 253, 254,
268, 276, 278, 279
Collison, Mr., 248, 255
Cologne, 238
Cooke, James, merchant, 268
Cooke, John, clerk, 260
Copenhagen, 12
Courland, 21, 27, 130
Courland, Duke of, 130
Coventry, Sir William, 261, 266, 268
Crawfuird, Daniel, Major General, 91, 127, 128, 131, 132, 133, 137, 140,

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 Index 289

143, 153, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 181, 188, 190, 191, 194,
207, 208, 215, 216, 218, 219
Crawfuird, Hugh, Lt. Colonel, 219, 220
Crawfuird, Mrs., 157, 158, 190, 216
Crawfuird, Thomas, Colonel, 164, 220
Crimea, 150
Cromblevsky, Major, 37
Cromwell, Oliver, 223
Cudnów, 73, 76, 104, 118, 144, 147, 148, 156, 163, 165, 174
Czaiky, Count, 65
Czaplinsky, Rittmeister, 99, 102
Czarnafsky, Colonel, 150
Czarnetsky, Stefan, commander, 31, 67, 195
Czarnieva, 28
Czarnotzy, Colonel, 68, 100
Czartoryski, Princes, 104
Czehryn, 195
Czerinie, 103
Czerniachow, 103
Czernihow, 69, 94, 95, 101, 103, 174, 185
Cziczura, Timofey, Colonel, 92, 93

Dąbrowa (Dambrova), 2, 47, 48, 53, 55, 114, 115

Dalke, 238
Dalyell, Thomas, Captain, 192, 193, 195
Dalyell, Thomas, General, 151, 152, 172, 173, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185,
186, 188, 193, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 207, 208,
209, 211, 212, 213, 214, 216, 217, 218, 247, 250, 252, 253, 254, 255, 257,
260, 274
Dam, 271
Dankwort, Major General, 12, 22

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 290 Diary of General Patrick Gordon

Danube (Donau), 210

Danzig (Dantzick, Gdańsk), 5, 22, 26, 47, 274, 277, 278
Danziger Haupt (Hooft), 12, 18, 21, 22
Darnbush, 234
Darsser Ort (Dass), 235
Dashkov, V.Y., Envoy, 198, 217, 223, 224
Davidson, Major, 122
Davidson, Sir William, 257, 270, 279
Davidson, William, Doctor, 7, 260, 274, 278, 279
Davidt, Ludovick de, 118
Dawson, John, 107
Deal, 268
Dębowiec (Demboftsa), 107, 114
Debron, Rittmeister, 86, 91
Deeve, Mr., 269, 270, 272, 273, 279
Delft, 270
Delfzijl, 271
Denmark, 8, 31, 234
Deptford, 247, 250
Dickson, Lt. Colonel, 156
Dirschau (Tczew), 12, 23
Dmitriev, M.M., Voyevoda, 179
Dmitry, 196, 199
Dnieper (Boristhenes), 69, 147, 163, 174, 175, 176, 180, 184, 185, 194,
195, 196
Dobromil, 108
Dokkum, 271
Dolgoruky, P.A., Prince, 200, 201
Dolgoruky, Y.A., Prince, 147, 198, 205, 208, 209, 212, 213
Doltse, 67
Domesnes, 234
Dordrecht (Dort), 241, 270
Dorogobuzh, 183, 194
Doroshenko, Petro, Hetman, 174, 175

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 Index 291

Dörpt, 130, 132

Douglas, Robert, Colonel, 152
Douglas, Robert, Field Marshal, 130
Dover, 248, 249, 268
Downs, 267, 268
Downy, Finlay, 232, 279
Drummond, Lt. Colonel, 216
Drummond, William, Lt. General, 163, 165, 172, 173, 181, 182, 183, 184,
185, 186, 188, 190, 194, 196, 197, 199, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 211,
212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 247, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 259,
267, 274
Dubiecko (Dirbeck), 107, 114
Dubno, 69
Dubrovna, 201, 202, 204
Dubrovno, 230
Dukla, 107, 114
Dunajec, 44, 47, 55, 57
Dünamünde, 233
Dunkirk, 249
Dvoretsky, Vasily, Colonel, 92, 93, 186
Dynów (Dimov), 107, 114
Dzialinsky, family, 10
Dzialinsky, Starosta, 91

Ebler, Durick, shipmaster, 234

Ecsed, 209
Edinburgh, 252, 254, 256
Elbe, 272
Elbing (Elbląg), 11, 15
Ellert, Major, 23, 24
Elzberk, Major, 91

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 292 Diary of General Patrick Gordon

Emden, 271
Emmerich, 240
Ems, 238
England, 155, 198, 216, 217, 221, 223, 224, 226, 241, 244, 246, 248, 263,
274, 279, 280
Enkhuizen, 270
Ent, Sir George, 258
Eppinger, Rittmeister, 101
Erdholm, 234
Erla, 58
Europe, 63, 135
Euxine Sea, 63
Eysderffer, Adam, Graf, 56, 58

Felkerzan, Rittmeister, 86
Ferguson, James, merchant, 29
Ferquhar, Robert, merchant, 29
Fers, 24
Fersen, Fabian, Lt. General, 232, 233
Filipów (Philippova), 129
Fischhausen, 18
Fish, Captain, 55
Fittinghausen, Lt. Colonel, 68
Flanders, 242, 244, 261, 267
Forrat, Andrew, Colonel, 152, 165, 274
France, 118, 223, 263, 269
Frank, John, Colonel, 201
Frauenburg (Frawensberg, Frombork), 22
Frazer, innkeeper, 245
Frederik III, King of Denmark, 234
Friedrich Wilhelm, Elector of Brandenburg, 122, 238, 240, 261, 273, 274

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 Index 293

Friesland, 271
Frische Haff, 12, 18
Fryer, William, 215
Fülek (Filleck), 61
Funk, Elias, Corporal, 25

Gander, Gaspar, Colonel, 91

Garshor, Major, 105, 106
Gashinsky, Lt. Colonel, 75
Gavia, 232
Gellentin, John, 274, 277, 278, 279
Gemelli, 21, 130
Georgia, 219
Georg Wilhelm, Duke of Lüneburg , 236
Germany, 57
Ghent, 245, 253, 255, 269, 274
Gibson, Mr., 270
Giza, Colonel, 20, 68
Glanville, Benjamin, Resident, 248, 269, 274, 276
Glückstadt, 272
Glukhov, 186
Gňazdá (Gniasna), 56, 57, 62, 65
Gniezno, Archbishop of, 8, 117, 149
Gołąb (Columbe), 115
Golding[en], 21, 27
Golovin, A.I., Voyevoda, 196
Golovin, A.P., Voyevoda, 196
Golt, Mr., 254, 256
Gombin, 8
Gordon, Adam, Lieutenant, 14, 16, 17, 18
Gordon, Alexander, Patrick’s brother, 216

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 294 Diary of General Patrick Gordon

Gordon, Catherine, Patrick’s daughter, 218

Gordon, Francis, 107
Gordon, George, 251, 270
Gordon, George, merchant, 122
Gordon, John, Captain, 233, 279, 281
Gordon, John, Patrick’s brother, 211, 215, 216, 217, 253
Gordon, Lord Henry, Colonel, 75, 99, 128
Gordon, Margaret, 42, 47
Gordon of Ardlogy, Adam, 19
Gordon of Auchleuchries, John, Patrick’s father, 16, 19, 106, 121, 173,
211, 215, 216, 217, 247, 250, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 259, 274, 278
Gordon of Haddo, Sir John, 251
Gordon, Patrick, ‘Steelhand’, 16, 17, 18, 21, 86, 122, 125, 126, 253, 256,
273, 274, 275, 277, 279, 281
Gordon, Thomas, Patrick’s cousin, 254, 259
Gordon, William, merchant, 17, 18, 21
Goren, Johan van, 278
Gorkum, 241
Gorodishche, 227
Gosiewsky, Wincenty, Hetman, 149, 150, 165
Gostynin, 8
Gotland, 234
Gottam, 57
Gralewsky, Rittmeister, 86
Graudenz (Grudziądz), 9, 10, 12, 26
Gravelines, 269
Gravesend, 250, 268
Great Brinnendorf, 237
Great Britain, 222, 274
Great Poland, 31
Greenwich, 267, 268
Griechs, Johann, Lieutenant, 1, 5, 7, 56
Grimatsa, 228, 229
Grinaw (Grünau?), 278

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 Index 295

Gron, 210
Groningen, 271
Grothaus, Major General, 68
Grove, George, 250
Grutshno, 9, 13, 26
Gubari, 118, 147, 169
Guild, William, Officer, 26, 28, 50, 54, 113, 129, 141
Gulits, Colonel, 230
Guta, 210
Gvintovka, Cossack, 177
György I Rakoczi, Prince of Transylvania, 61
György II Rakoczi, Prince of Transylvania, 1, 210
Gzin, 9, 10, 13

Hadiach (Hadits), 174, 175

Hague, 270
Haltern, 239
Hamburg, 218, 219, 235, 238, 239, 245, 248, 261, 270, 271, 272, 273, 276,
277, 279, 280, 281
Hameln, 237
Hamilton, John, Ensign, 137
Hamilton, Patrick, Captain, 19, 20
Hamm, 239
Hannover, 236, 237
Haratno, 69
Harburg, 236
Hastenbeck, 238
Hay, Andrew, 273, 274
Hay, William, Lieutenant, 134, 137, 157, 165
Hayes, Madam, 135
Hayes, secretary, 261

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 296 Diary of General Patrick Gordon

Hebdon, daughters, 254

Hebdon, Esquire, 270, 273, 274
Hebdon, Mrs., 254
Hebdon, Richard, 255
Hebdon, Sir John, 247, 250, 251, 257, 258,261, 267,
268, 270, 273, 274, 276, 277
Hebdon, sons, 257
Helsingør (Elsenure), 215
Henderson, John, Lieutenant, 164
Herford (Haervoerd), 237
Hervath, 60
Hessen, Landgrave of, 237
Heyden, Baron von der, 239
Heyms, 205
Hill, Captain, 247
Hindeloopen, 271
Hinning, Captain, 163, 175
Hoffestadt, 239
Hoffman, Mr., 186, 202, 204
Holland, 146, 165, 223, 238, 241, 243, 244
Holmes, Lt. Colonel, 196, 197
Holstein, Johann, 47
Holy Cross Monastery, 51, 115
Honard, Johan van den, Deputy, 22
Horst, 237
Horyn, 70, 103
Hoven, John von, Colonel, 164
Hribovits, 69
Hungary, 44, 59, 61, 63, 64, 114, 210
Hurst, Mr. van der, 270
Huszt, 209

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 Index 297

Iglo, 58
Ikwa, 69
Ilmen, 135, 228, 229
Inglis, George, Colonel, 175
Inowłódz, 52, 53
Inowrocław, 8
Ireland, 263
Isaack, Mr., 279
Isola, Franz, Baron d’, 22, 118, 121, 125, 126, 127, 128, 265, 266
Ivan IV the Terrible, Tsar of Russia, 134, 135, 222
Ivanov, Almaz, Dumny Dyak, 221, 233, 236, 247, 248, 253, 274
Ivanov, Mark, writer, 157
Ivan the Tatar, 216
Ivings, Mr., 278

Jacob, 198
Jade, 272
James, Duke of York, 261, 267, 268
Jan II Kazimierz, King of Poland, 6, 22, 26, 32, 44, 45, 65, 67, 92, 107,
117, 118, 119, 120, 124, 149, 151, 174, 180, 183, 184, 185, 187, 189, 194,
254, 258, 274
Janowiec (Jonoftsa), 4, 7, 8, 66, 67, 115
Janseri, 103
Jarosław, 123
Jasmund, 234
Jędrzejów, 37
Johann Friedrich, Duke of Hannover and Lüneburg, 236
John (Ivan), Tsarevich, 254
Joseph, 212

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 298 Diary of General Patrick Gordon

Jugla, 232
Juist, 271
Jurdetsky, Jacob, dragoon, 113

Kadino (Cadina), 198

Kaisermark, 56, 57, 60, 62, 64, 66, 210
Kalisz (Calish), 33
Kalkstein, Colonel, 189, 211, 212
Kálló, 209
Kaluga (Coluga), 186
Kama, 162
Kamieńsk, 36
Kaniow, 163, 175
Karachev, 153, 189
Karánsebes, 210
Karl X Gustav, King of Sweden, 8, 12
Károly, 209
Karstares, Major, 130
Kauffman, Captain, 278, 279
Kazan’ (Casan), 158, 198
Kazimierz (Casimirs), 4, 5, 48, 66, 67, 115
Keb’, 230
Keith, George, Rittmeister, 141, 226
Keith, Juliana, 172
Kempthorne, John, Rear Admiral, 268
Kenedy, John, Ensign, 1, 5, 7, 14
Kenedy, Mr., 217, 235
Khanenko, Mikhail, Colonel, 175
Khlopov, K.O., Voyevoda, 185
Kholokholnia, 228
Kholova, 229

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 Index 299

Khotilovo, 228
Khovansky, I.A., Prince, 147, 151, 152, 230, 232, 233
Kiejdany, 129, 130
Kielce (Kelets), 53, 115
Kiev (Kyow), 6, 81, 94, 95, 99, 100, 102, 183, 185, 195
Kilmarnock, 260
Kirchdorf, 58, 60, 61, 65
Kirkwood, John, 252
Klekovets, 107
Klevan’ (Plevania), 104
Kleve, 240
Klimontów (Climentow), 4, 49
Klin, 217, 226, 227, 280
Kochanova, 107
Kodna, 100
Kokenhausen, 132, 133
Kolobov, N.I., Colonel, 145, 146
Kolomenskoye (Columinsko), 137, 159, 160, 161, 162
Komorn (Comorrha), 210
Komorofsky, Colonel, 21
Königsberg, 17, 19, 132
Konopatsky, gentleman, 13, 14
Końska Wola, 67
Konstantinov, 66, 70
Kopys, 200
Korets, 103
Korff, Colonel, 101
Korff, Major, 8
Koritsky, Colonel, 68
Korop, 189
Korostyshev, 100, 101, 102, 103
Koshevnik, 231
Košice (Cashaw), 58
Koslovsky, gentleman, 33

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 300 Diary of General Patrick Gordon

Kővár, 209
Kowal, 8
Kowalsky, Captain, 56, 62
Kozhevniki, 190
Kozlovsky, G.A., Prince, 95, 98, 119
Krakow, 36, 45, 46, 53, 117
Krakow, Bishop of, 53
Krasiczinsky, gentleman, 114
Krasiczyn, 113
Krasnoye Selo (Crasna Cella), 141
Krasny (Crasna), 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 201, 202, 205
Krasnye Stanki, 229
Krasnystaw, 67
Kraus, dragoon, 85
Krawinkle, John, Minister, 213, 218
Kresttsy, 229
Krevett, Henry, merchant, 276
Krolevets, 185, 189
Kropivna, 180
Krosno, 102, 107, 114, 121
Kruger, Colonel, 230
Krupka Preclawsky, Peter, gentleman, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42
Kryłów (Krilov), 67
Krzizanowice, 41
Kukuy, 204
Kulakowsky, gentleman, 48
Kulm (Colum, Chełmno), 8, 12
Kuntsevo, 226
Kurakin, F.F., Prince, 196
Kurakin, G.S., Prince, 153
Kurzelów, 51
Kutchy Gory, 150
Kyvet, Johan, 244, 270

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 Index 301

Labun, 88, 100, 104

Ladoga, 135
Lakhovtsy (Lochovits), 70
Łańcut (Landshut), 1
Lanczinsky, Colonel, 72, 102, 103, 107, 121
Landells, Alexander, Major, 131, 162, 219, 226
Langeoog, 271
Lang, John, 173
Lansky, Lt. Colonel, 86
Latimer, 107
Lauderdale, John Maitland, Earl of, 246, 247, 250, 251, 252, 260, 279
Lauder, Mr., 270
Leck, 129
Leeuwarden, 271
Leine, 236
Leith, 252, 253, 255
Lenkova, 130
Leontiev, Z.F., Ambassador, 127, 140
Leopold I, Emperor, 63, 65, 114, 118, 121, 122, 125, 126, 127, 128, 147,
149, 209, 210, 265
Leslie, Avraam (Alexander), General, 172
Lesly, Mrs., 266
Leszczyński, Jan, Palatine, 68
Leutsh (Levoča), 58, 59, 61, 64
Leuven (Lowen), 246
Lewenz, 210
Leyden, 270
Libau, 21
Libusza (Libush), 2, 3, 42, 44
Liege (Luick), 238
Ligęza, Lady, 2
Linde, Lorenz von der, Field Marshal, 12

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 302 Diary of General Patrick Gordon

Liniewsky, Stefan, Rittmeister, 86

Lippe, river, 238, 239
Lippstadt, 238, 239
Lithuania, 66, 200
Litskin, Colonel, 164
Livland, 133
Lochovits, 147
Loevestein, 240
Logovets, 228
Lokhvytsia (Lochwits), 189
L’Ombres, Ambassador, 20, 22
Lome, Lidert, Captain, 144, 156
London, 224, 247, 250, 253, 255, 257, 259, 261, 264, 265, 273, 278
Long, Sir Robert, 259
Loshakov, K.O., Rittmeister, 102
Lottum, Baron von, 236
Lovat, 135, 229
Lowen Hof, 237
Lower Tooting (Teutin), 255, 257
Łowicz (Lovits), 8
Lubar, 71, 79
Lübeck, 233, 234, 235, 275, 276, 277, 278
Lubezna, 230
Ľubica (Lubits), 56, 65
Lubień, 53
Lublin, 1, 67, 117
Lubomirska, Princess, 5, 7, 47, 48, 115
Lubomirsky, family, 65
Lubomirsky, Jerzy, Prince, ‘General’, 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15,
16, 17, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 31, 32, 38, 39, 41, 43, 44, 46, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52,
53, 55, 56, 58, 63, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 72, 75, 79, 81, 82, 83, 86, 87, 88, 97,
98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 114, 115, 117, 118, 119,
120, 121, 123, 124, 125, 127, 148, 268, 274
Lubovna, 55, 56, 57, 62, 65

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 Index 303

Lugos, 210
Lüneburg, 236, 237
Lünen, 239
Lutin, 151
Lutov, 229
Lutsk (Luczko), 68, 69, 106
Lutter, 238
Lwów (Lemberg), 67, 68, 120

Maas, 240
Magdeburg, 274, 279
Maitland (Mettellan), James, secretary, 247, 251, 252
Małogoszcz (Malogost), 37
Malyson, Colonel, 273, 274, 277
Maria Ilyinichna, Tsaritsa, ‘Empress’, 155, 189
Maria Ludovica, Queen of Poland, 22, 107, 116, 117
Marienburg (Malbork), 11, 12, 21, 23
Marienburg (Livonia), 133
Markofsky, Lieutenant, 76
Martin, Ensign, 129
Martin, James, Captain, 182, 183
Maryino, 228
Massy, Mrs., 253, 255
Matsdorf, 57
Matveyev, A.S., Colonel, 161, 211
Mautner, Rittmeister, 86
Mayerberg, Augustin, Baron von, 149
MсLaughlan, Colin, Rittmeister, 231
Mecklenburg, 235
Medno[ye], 228
Mefody, Bishop, 177, 178, 179

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 304 Diary of General Patrick Gordon

Mehmed IV Geray, Khan of Crimea, 6, 66, 106, 154

Mehmed IV, Sultan, 63, 209, 210
Mellentin, Rittmeister, 23
Mellum, 272
Menezes (Menzies), Mrs., 215
Menezes (Menzies), Paul, Major, 127, 128, 131, 137, 156, 158, 163, 166,
191, 215, 216, 218, 253, 255
Menezes (Menzies), Thomas, Lt. Colonel, 99, 144, 156
Menzies of Pitfodels, Sir Gilbert, 253, 255, 256, 257
Merve, 241
Meverell, Ms., 192, 193
Meverell, Samuel, merchant, 266
Meves, John, Colonel, 132, 164, 165
Mewe (Gniew), 15, 20, 23, 24
Mezhirichi (Mezerits), 103
Michalko (Michalsky), Rittmeister, 9
Michałowice, 54
Middelburg, 242
Middelburg (Flanders), 244
Middleton, John, Earl of, 256, 257, 259, 262
Mielec, 4, 49
Mieletsky, gentleman, 4
Mieskofsky, Podstarosta, 3, 44
Mignovichi (Meginovitz), 182, 198
Mihály I Apafi, Prince of Transylvania, 209
Mikhailovka, 228
Milgast, 3, 42, 114
Miloslavskaya, Boyarynia, 226
Miloslavsky, F.A., Boyar, 158
Miloslavsky, I.D., Boyar, 137, 138, 140, 144, 145, 146, 173, 181, 184, 185,
208, 212, 213, 214, 215, 218, 225, 226
Minden, 237, 238
Mnissek, gentleman, 114
Mohilow, 118, 147, 189

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 Index 305

Mokraya, 227
Molkwerum (Bolquerum), 271
Monastyrev, Ivan, Colonel, 95, 194
Montau Spitz (Monto Spits), 11
Montgomery, Major, 183, 190, 204, 206, 207, 219, 220
Moravia, 63
More, Colonel, 277
Morice, Sir William, 253, 254, 261, 262
Morison, Robert, Doctor, 257
Morozova, A.I., Boyarynia, 155
Morozov, B.I., Boyar, 155
Moscow (Mosko), 131, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 141, 145, 149, 154, 155,
157, 160, 164, 165, 166, 173, 175, 176, 180, 181, 183, 184, 186, 187, 195,
196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 202, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 211, 212, 215, 217,
219, 223, 224, 226, 227, 228, 230, 232, 233, 235, 236, 245, 248, 250, 253,
254, 255, 258, 261, 268, 273, 276, 278, 279, 280
Moshnia, 229
Motiakin, T.F., writer, 140
Mozhaysk, 192, 193
Mshaga (Mpsiaga), 135, 229, 230
Msta, 136, 228, 229
Munichhausen, gentleman, 237
Münster, 239, 240
Münster, Bishop of, 239, 240
Munter, Henry, merchant, 280
Muran, 61
Muris, John, Lieutenant, 133
Murom, 184
Muscovy, 223
Mussa, 130

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 306 Diary of General Patrick Gordon

Nagybánya, 209
Narew, 129
Narva, 134, 135
Nashchokin, A.L., Boyar, 151, 152, 181, 197, 198, 209, 212, 213
Neglin[ny], 187, 211
Nemiricz, Major General, 7
Nemiricz, Podkomorzy, 94
Nemiricz, Stefan, Colonel, 68, 76, 79, 80, 83, 97
Nemirowa, 107
Nepshin, Vasily, 178
Nering, 18, 22
Netherlands, 240, 242, 244, 263, 264
Neuenburg (Nowe), 26
Neuendorf, 58, 60, 65
Neuhäusel, 210
Neuhausen, 133, 231
Neustadt, 237
Neuteich, 14, 18
Neutra, 210
New Serinwar, 210
Nida, 42, 54
Nieman, Colonel, 7
Niemen, 129
Nieuwpoort (Newport), 247, 248, 269
Nijmegen (Nimwegen), 240
Nikiforov, Piotr, Lieutenant, 144, 145, 157
Nikola Stolb, 228
Nikolay Davidovich, Prince of Georgia, 219
Nikon, Patriarch, 208
Nisha, 229
Niżankowice, 107, 108
Nizhyn, 95, 174, 175, 176, 180, 185

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 Index 307

Nogat, 11, 12, 16

Nógrád, 210
Norderney, 271
Northern Dvina, 221, 264
Nosacz, Obozny, 6, 87
Nounoj, Colonel, 177
Novgorod, 134, 135, 136, 140, 228, 229, 230, 280
Novgorod Seversky, 187
Nowe Miasto, 130
Nowe Miasto Korczyn, 54
Nowy Sącz (New Sandets), 43, 44

Obernkirchen, 237
Oblonye, 194
Ochab, Major, 83
Odovern, Colonel, 230, 274
Odoyevsky, N.I., Prince, 184, 185, 208
Oedt, Baron de, Colonel, 86
Oeland, 234
Oesel, 234
Ogilvie, Mary, Patrick Gordon’s mother, 216
Old Aberdeen, 216
Olefelt, Colonel, 276
Olfen, 239
Oliphant, Rittmeister, 16, 17
Oliwa, 22
Olonets, 151
Olyka, 103, 104, 115
Opatów, 50, 51, 115
Opatowiec, 42, 44, 115
Opoki (Opochy), 230

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 308 Diary of General Patrick Gordon

Osa, 162
Osiek, 4
Ostend, 244, 245, 246, 276
Ostior, 185
Ostropol, 70
Ostrów, 129
Ostrusitse, 69
Oxenstierna, Count, 12
Oxford, 263

Pac, Michał, Hetman, 185

Palmer, Colonel, 202
Palmer, Mrs., 193, 202
Panek, gentleman, 41
Papendorf, 231
Paprotsky, ‘Director’, 23
Parker, William, merchant, 250
Patberg, Cornelius, Colonel, 164
Pechory (Petshure), 133, 231
Peckham, 247, 250, 255, 257, 266, 277
Peipus, 133, 134
Pelplin, 24
Pereyaslav, 95, 174, 175, 176, 189
Perring, Mr., 260
Persia, 158
Pestrzecky, Bartholomeus, Secretary, 123, 124
Philip, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe , 237
Piatka, 81, 88, 100
Pile, Peter, apothecary, 227, 231
Pilica (Pilcza), 8, 52, 53
Pillau, 18, 19

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 Index 309

Pińczów (Pienshow), 39, 115

Piotrawin (Petrovine), 66
Piotrków (Peterkaw), 52, 53
Pisarev, Simon, Lt. Colonel, 99
Piwniczna (Piwnitsa), 55, 57, 62
Pleitner, Colonel, 15
Plowden, Abbess, 245, 269
Plowden, Mrs., 245, 246, 253, 255, 269, 274
Pnewsky, Lt. Colonel, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114
Pochep (Potshop), 189
Podgórze (Podgurs), 30, 48, 102
Podolia, 70
Podolínec (Podlain), 56, 57, 62, 65
Pokrivnitza, 49
Pokrovskoye, 190
Pola, 229
Poland, 4, 6, 8, 18, 20, 22, 24, 44, 62, 63, 64, 65, 70, 92, 99, 101, 102, 116,
120, 137, 140, 147, 148, 149, 151, 167, 180, 181, 184, 189, 194, 204, 254,
258, 260, 268, 274, 276
Polein, 103
Polesia, 67
Polianovka, 194
Polianskoy, Colonel, 175
Polist, 230
Polomet, 229
Polotsk, 150, 151, 152, 165, 172
Poltava, 174
Poltev, S.F., Colonel, 161
Pomerania, 12, 30, 235
Ponedelna, 229
Poorten, Henry, 276, 277
Poorten, Just, 235, 278
Poorten, Mr., 278
Poprad (Paprot), 44, 57

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 310 Diary of General Patrick Gordon

Porembsky, gentleman, 36
Porembsky, servant, 27
Portes, Andrew, 107
Portes, Captain, 129
Portes, Robert, merchant, 107
Porte (Turkey), 6
Porytsk (Pontska), 69
Potetits, 107
Potocky, family, 42
Potocky, Stanisław Rewera, Hetman, 43, 70, 74, 75, 81, 87, 97
Potocky, Starosta, 94
Potok, 42, 55
Poznań (Posna), 28, 29, 30, 68
Prague (Warsaw suburb), 128
Price, Sir Herbert, 262
Pripyat’, 69
Prochnik, 107
Proskofsky, Podstarosta, 42, 43
Prosna, 33
Prozorovsky, P.S., Prince, 154, 222
Prussia, 7, 12, 21, 30, 106, 122, 125, 132, 147
Prutki, 153
Prutki (near Moscow), 188
Przecław, 4
Przedbórz, 36
Przemyśl, 108, 109, 114
Pskova, 230
Pskov (Plesko), 133, 134, 135, 140, 214, 215, 230, 231, 232, 233, 279, 280
Puchar, Colonel, 10, 11, 12
Pulin, 103
Putivl, 95, 180, 185, 186
Pyzdry, 28, 29, 30

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 Index 311

Radimna, 107
Radoszyce (Radoshits), 53
Radziwill, Boguslaw, Prince, 120, 129, 261, 273, 274
Radziwill, family, 129
Radziwill, Michal, Prince, 68, 108, 109
Radziwill, Prince, 51, 104
Radziwill, Princess, 104
Rae, William, Captain, 227, 230, 231
Rajgród, 129
Rakhino, 229
Rany, Robert, 252, 278
Rathman, Lt. Colonel, 16, 17
Rawa, 107
Rawa, river, 8
Rebeny, 107
Rees, 239
Repnin, I.B., Prince, 136
Reval, 132
Reymenihof, 237
Rey, Polish magnate, 2
Rhine, 238, 240
Ribnitz, 235
Ridder, John, Pastor, 164
Ridder, widow, 164
Rietberg, 238
Riga, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 141, 173, 211, 214, 216, 217, 231, 232, 236,
274, 278, 279, 281
Robison, Captain, 35
Rochester, 250
Rokitniza, 107
Romodanovsky, G.G., Prince, 163, 186, 189
Romodanovsky, Y.I., Prince, 161

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 312 Diary of General Patrick Gordon

Ronnenberg, 237
Rostock, 235
Rostokino, 188
Rothes, John Leslie, Earl of, 256
Rotterdam, 270
Rtishchev, F.M., Okolnichy, 146
Rügen (Rugia), 234
Rundt, William, Corporal, 25
Rupert, Prince, 261, 273, 274
Rurik, Prince, 135
Russia, 66, 96, 131, 135, 150, 222, 223, 247, 253, 255, 256, 258, 260, 262,
268, 273, 274, 275, 276, 278
Ruyter, Michiel de, Admiral, 242
Ryter, Rittmeister, 144, 156
Rzeszów (Reshow), 1, 2, 105

Safer Geray, Nuradin Sultan, 69, 79, 80, 81, 87, 88, 94, 96, 97, 98
Sambor, 108
Samogitia, 130
San, 66, 107, 108, 109, 114
Sandomierz, 42, 68, 80, 86, 117
Sandwich, 268
Sanok, 107
Sapieha, Jan, General, 71, 77, 78, 258
Sapieha, Paweł, Hetman, 183, 185
Sarnsdorf, 236
Scepusia (Zips), 44, 55, 56, 61, 63, 64, 65
Schaumburg-Lippe, 237
Schaumburg (Schawenberg), 237
Scheldt, 269, 270
Schermbeck, 239

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 Index 313

Schila, 210
Schinta, 210
Schmelnitz, 59
Schwerin, Lt. Colonel, 236, 239
Scotland, 16, 18, 19, 37, 106, 107, 121, 124, 134, 169, 197, 211, 216, 236,
254, 256, 263, 274
Senna, 8
Serbia, 63
Sestra, 227
Setzky, Countess, 61
Severia, 163
Sevsk (Shewsky), 153, 164, 181, 184, 186, 187, 189
Shadwall, Mr., 259
Shcherbaty, O.I., Prince, 95
Shein, Colonel, 230
Shelon (Solona), 135, 229, 230
Shenkenshants, 240
Shepelev, A.A., Colonel, 161, 175
Sheremetev, P.V., Boyar, 184, 185, 189
Sheremetev, V.B., Boyar, 87, 88, 93, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 102
Shirinsky (Serinsky), Prince , 154
Shoneck, 24
Shorin,Vasily, merchant, 160
Shosha, 227
Shufenit, 66
Shults, Colonel, 276, 281
Shults, Lt. Colonel, 163, 175
Shults, Major, 83, 84
Siberia, 141, 143, 155, 162
Sibirsky, Tsarevich, 199
Sidney, Sir Philip, 259
Sieradz, 33
Silesia, 122
Sitnia, 230

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 314 Diary of General Patrick Gordon

Sittingbourne, 249
S. Job, 210
Skene, Mr., 248, 253, 255, 256, 257
Skriabin, Colonel, 175
Skrzyn, 51
Slobodiscza, 81, 87, 92, 100
Slobodka, 227
Slucz, 103
Sluis, 242, 244
Smith, Captain, 133
Smolensk, 165, 172, 173, 181, 182, 183, 184, 186, 192,
193, 194, 196, 197, 198, 202, 205, 207, 211, 212, 213,
214, 215, 216, 218, 219, 220
Snivins, Colonel, 156
Sobiesky, Jan, commander, 78, 86
Sobków, 54
Sohey, Lt. Colonel, 218
Sohey, widow, 218
Sokal, 106
Sokalsky, Starosta, 106
Sokolnitsky, Lieutenant, 86
Sokolova, 103
Solec, 4, 66, 115
Solnitsa, 135
Soltsy (Saltzee), 230
Somko, I.S., Colonel, 174, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180
Son, 162
Sparrenberg, 238
Spasov Zaulok, 227
Spiekeroog, 271
Spiridonov, A.K., Captain, 143, 144
Środa, 29
Stackursky, Lt. Colonel, 76
Staden, Caspar, 227, 231

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 Index 315

Staden, Mrs., 218

Staden, Nikolaus von, Colonel, 218
Stadthagen, 237
St. Andrews (Netherlands), 240
Stanislaw, servant, 197
Stanislawsky, Rittmeister, 101
Stargard, 24
Stary Sącz (Old Sandets), 20, 42, 44, 55, 57, 62, 63, 66
Stary Solets, 108
Statkeovitz, Colonel, 181, 182
Staveren, 270
Steffansky, dragoon, 85
Stever (Sieve), 239
Stewart, Captain, 11
Stewart, Robert, Officer, 141, 199
Stężyca (Stenczicza), 115
Stralsund, 235
Strasburg (Brodnica), 15
Strasburg, Johann, Colonel, 164, 175, 178, 185, 188, 195
Studenitsa, 100
Studthof, 18, 20
Stuhm (Sztum), 15, 278
Sturm, Colonel, 214
Styr’ (Stier), 69, 106
Surazh (Suras), 69
Susa, General, 114
Swalferort (Silversoort), 234
Sweden, 23, 116, 197, 271, 277
Sweden, Johan van, merchant, 275, 278, 279
Swidersky, confederate leader, 147
Świecie (Schwetz), 26
Szamosújvár, 209
Szatmár, 209
Székelyhíd, 210

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 316 Diary of General Patrick Gordon

Szklow, 184, 194, 198

Szumofsky, Jan, Stolnik, 92, 94
Szydłowiec (Shidlovets), 51

Talaw, Captain, 91
Tamerlane, 229
Tarczin, 103
Tarło, 4, 115
Tarnów, 2, 4, 42, 47, 48, 54, 55, 66, 115
Tarocs, 58
Tatry, 56, 57, 65
Tekely, Emeric, Count, 66
Tekely, Stephan, Count, 56, 64, 65, 66
Ter Veere, 242
Teterev, 76, 77
Teterka, 80
Thames, 250
Theophilus, Archbishop of Novgorod, 135
Tholen, 270
Thomson, Sir William, 257
Thorn (Toruń), 1, 8, 11, 26, 27, 127, 128
Tiapkin, V.M., Lt. Colonel, 204
Tibuth, Mrs., 153
Tiel, 240
Tisza (Tibiscus), 58, 209
Tokay, 58, 209
Tomkins, Mr., 260
Torzhok, 228, 280
Tours, Mr., 268
Towrs, Mr., 257
Transylvania, 63, 209

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 Index 317

Trauernicht, Colonel, 216

Travemünde, 235, 278
Trebnits, Jan, gentleman, 10
Trubchevsk, 187
Tsariovo-Zaymishche, 212
Tsna, 228
Tuchów, 4, 42
Tursky, servant, 49
Turzysk, 67
Tver’ (Twere), 136, 226, 227, 280
Tvertsa, 227, 228
Tykocin, 129
Tyniec (Tinets), 51

Ufa, 162
Ufa, river, 162
Ugoria, 63
Uhnów (Ufnov), 107
Ukraine, 5, 7, 23, 66, 69, 92, 95, 101, 105, 116, 119, 120, 147, 148, 174,
180, 183, 184, 186
Uluts, 108

Váh (Waag), 210

Valday, 228
Valentin, ‘Blind Sergeant’, 21, 150
Valner, Hofmeister, 60
Varel, 60
Varsitsky, Senator, 36

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 318 Diary of General Patrick Gordon

Vasily, servant, 199

Velika[ya], 134, 230
Velikiye Luki, 134, 135
Veliky-Gagin, D.S., Prince, Okolnichy, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 199
Verenda, 229
Vergot, 229
Veriazha (Veresa), 230
Ver Poorten, Mr., 235
Veyenstein, 108
Viazma (Wesma), 194
Vielopolsky, nobleman, 69
Vienna, 125, 126, 127
Villia, 70
Vilsk, 129
Viny (Wina), 229
Vistula, 2, 4, 5, 11, 12, 13, 18, 22, 23, 24, 26, 42, 44, 49, 54, 66, 67, 115, 128
Vitebsk (Witepsky), 150, 200, 201
Vlissingen (Flushing), 242, 245
Volga, 63, 136, 227, 228
Volkhov, 135, 229
Volodymyr (Wolodimirs), 67
Vologda, 145, 155, 186
Volzhinsky, Vasily, Voyevoda, 132
Vorobiovy Gory, 191
Voronin, Colonel, 175
Voronizh, 189
Vorstuf, 231
Voskresenskoye, 217
Vydropuzhsk, 228
Vyhovsky, Ivan, Hetman, 6, 70, 81, 92
Vyhovsky, Lady, 92
Vyshny Volochok, 228

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 Index 319

Waal, 240, 241

Walcheren, 242
Wallingdorf, 58, 60, 61, 65
Wangerooge, 271
Wardein, 210
Warsaw (Varso), 5, 6, 7, 22, 66, 67, 92, 115, 120, 121, 124, 128, 129, 131,
133, 148, 173, 274, 278
Warta, 33
Wast, Patrick, 251
Watson, John, Lt. Colonel, 122
Webster, Peter, 250, 255, 268
Węgrów (Vengrov), 129
Weisenstein, Captain, 107
Wenton, James, merchant, 122
Wesel, 236, 238, 239
Weser, 237, 272
Wesselenyi, Ferenc, Palatine, 61, 62
Western Dvina, 130, 132, 234, 278
Westertown of Auchleuchries, 253
Westphalia, 240
Weyer, 237
Weyser, Michael, Provost, 61
Whitefuird, Walter, Colonel, 155, 204, 217, 218
White, Mrs., 158
Widawa, 35
Wieluń, 33
Wieprz, 115
Wiersbitsky, General Proviantmeister, 15
Wierschowsky, Major, 76
Willemstad, 241, 242, 270
Williams, Lt. Colonel, 68
Williamson, Joseph, secretary, 275, 276

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 320 Diary of General Patrick Gordon

Wilno, 132, 151, 165

Wilsk, 103
Wilson, Thomas, Doctor, 217
Wiltczitsky, gentleman, 54
Windau, 21, 234
Winram, James, Lt. Colonel, 164, 165, 172
Wishart, Abraham, 46
Wiślica (Vislits), 42, 54
Wisłok, 4, 49, 66
Wismar, 235
Wiśnicz, 46, 123
Wisniowiecky, Dymitr, Prince, 94
Wisniowiecky, Konstanty, Prince, 92
Wisoky, 103
Witsendorf, 236
Wittemund, 234
Wiwiersky, Colonel, 89, 163, 175
Wizna, 129
Włocławek (Wladislaw), 8
Wojnicz (Voynits), 44, 47
Wolbórz (Walwors), 52
Wolfen, 239
Wolff von Lüdinghausen, Fromhold, General, 73, 100
Wolmar, 231
Workum, 240, 271
Wulffe, shipmaster, 278, 279
Würtz, Paul, Field Marshal, 8, 9, 12, 274, 275, 277

Xanten, 239

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 Index 321

Y
Yakovlev, K.A., Stolnik, 212
Yamuga, 227
Yaron, 229
Yauza, 144, 146, 165
Yazhelbitsy, 229
Yedro[vo], 228
Young, Adam, Quartermaster, 25, 33, 47
Yurgenburg, 57, 58, 62, 65

Z
Żabno, 42
Zagrodniky, 141, 144
Zakliczyn (Saklikshin), 44, 55
Zamość, 122
Zamoysky, Jan, Palatine, 42, 68, 80, 86
Zaporogi, 174
Żarnów, 53
Zasławski-Ostrogski, Władysław Dominik, Prince, 2, 67
Zavidovo, 227
Zaytsevo (Sajantsova), 229
Zeeland, 241
Zelmer, Mr., 276
Zeugh, Lt. Colonel, 201
Zheliabuzhsky, I.A., Voyevoda, 154
Zierik-Zee, 242
Zimniaya Gora, 228
Zipserhaus, 61, 65
Znin, 129
Żnin, 27
Zolotarenko, Vasily, Colonel, 176, 177, 179, 180
Zverovichi (Zwierowitz), 205
Zwiahel, 103
Zykov, Fiodor, Colonel, 91, 95

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