The Gay Gordons. Some Strange Adventures of A
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S, 1 1 1, ,e. National Library of Scotland mini *B000074722* o THE GAY GORDONS Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from National Library of Scotland http://www.archive.org/details/gaygordonssorhestOObull THE ABERDEENSHIRE CRADLE OF THE GORDONS This picture, by Mr. W. F. Webster, shows the ruins of Huntly Castle, a most picturesque pile, which ceased to be inhabited by the family in the middle of the eighteenth century, when many of its stones were carried off to build dykes. It figures frequently in George MacDonald's novels. Frontispiece *r THE GAY GORDONS SOME STRANGE ADVENTURES OF A FAMOUS SCOTS FAMILY BY JOHN MALCOLM BULLOCH LONDON: CHAPMAN & HALL, LTD. HENRIETTA ST. COVENT GARDEN, W.C. MCMVIII Richard Clav & Sons, Limited, bread street hill, e.c., and bungay, suffolk. PREFACE This book, though really begun in boyhood and continued long after (and because) the scenes of its inspiration were left behind, does not pretend to be a history of the widely distributed family of Gordon. That encyclopaedic task has been undertaken as a purely genealogical effort by the New Spalding Club of Aberdeen, under the editorship of the present writer ; but with two big volumes to its credit, The House of Gordon is still " in progress," as the British Museum catalogue would say. The present is merely an attempt to illustrate some well-defined characteristics of the family in several centuries, different countries and under varying conditions, or, though the thread of actual descent is not always known, the identity of spirit is remarkable. The narratives have been arranged chronologically with the view of showing that these characteristics run through the history of the family as definitely as the "yellow thread of the Gordon plaid," uninter- rupted by those imaginary selvedges which limit Romance to Long Ago and Far Away. This con- tinuity is indeed more marked than these pages bring out, for the difficulty has been to keep the immense amount of material at my disposal within reasonable shape. With that in view, I have omitted the careers of such well-known figures as a VI PREFACE General Patrick Gordon of the Russian Army, Lord George Gordon, and Chinese Gordon, and I reserve the fascinating personality of Jane Maxwell, Duchess of Gordon, for another occasion. I have also care- fully avoided the machinery of citing authorities, which in such a sketch presents a forbidding appear- ance. That may annoy the experts. But if I have amused some general readers and offended none— difficult point in dealing truthfully with family history — I shall be well satisfied. J. M. B. 1 1 8, Pall Mall, S.W. CONTENTS PAGE THE "GUIDIN"' OF THE GORDONS i Giving a rapid review of the characteristics of the family. THE ROMANCE OF THE WHITE ROSE . 15 The marriage of Lady Catherine Gordon, daughter of the second Earl of Huntly, with Perkin Warbeck in January 1495-96. THE FAMOUS ASSASSINATION OF WALLENSTEIN 32 In 1634, by Colonel John Gordon (died 1649) °f tne Gight family, Byron's maternal ancestors. THE LAST KING OF POLAND .... 43 Stanislas Poniatowski (1732-98), great-grandson of Lady Catherine Gordon, daughter of the second Marquis " of Huntly ; with some account of the present Marquis Huntly Gordon " of Warsaw, and the " Princess Olive of Cumberland." THE GOVERNOR OF KRONSTADT . 59 Admiral Thomas Gordon (died 1741), who left our Navy on account of his Jacobitism. THE GREAT GLENBUCKET 77 John Gordon of Glenbucket, Aberdeenshire (died 1750); implicated in the rebellions of 1715 and 1745. vii vrii CONTENTS PAGE THE WOOIN' O'T 9 i The flirtations of Lady Henrietta Gordon, daughter of the second Earl of Aberdeen, and her marriage with Robert Gordon of Hallhead, the great-grandfather of Adam Lindsay Gordon, the Australian poet. Also the strange wooing of Sir Alexander Gordon, of Culvennan, in Wigtownshire, and an account of his son David (1774-1829), a pioneer of the motor-car. THE ELOPEMENT OF LADY SARAH BUNBURY 103 In 1769, with Lord William Gordon, son of the third Duke of Gordon and father of the child who was Reynolds's model for "Angels' Heads." A BOY WHO WAS BEHEADED AT BREST . 124 The execution of Alexander Gordon, of Wardhouse, Aberdeenshire, on the charge of espionage, 1769 ; with an account of other Gordons who were prisoners in France from time to time. THE DANGERS OF A SCARLET COAT . .139 Recording the killing of David Gordon of Threave Grange at the Battle of Giurgevo, near Bucharest, 1 771; and the murder of Brigadier-General Patrick Gordon of King's Grange (both belonging to the Lochinvar branch), in Canada, 1776. THE CHRISTENING OF THE ORANGE RIVER 148 In 1779, by Colonel Robert Jacob Gordon, a Dutch- Scot ; with accounts of Colonel Robert Gordon, mur- the dered at Conde, 181 5 ; and of Otto Dirck Gordon, Dutch patriot of 1785. A FATAL DUEL IN HYDE PARK. .159 In which the Hon. Cosmo Gordon, son of the second Earl of Aberdeen, killed Colonel Thomas of the Scots Guards in 1789. 7 CONTENTS ix PAGE THE ABDUCTION OF THE "FEMALE INFIDEL" 165 Mrs. Lee, in 1804, by the Rev. Lockhart Gordon and his brother, Loudoun, an artillery officer, both belonging to the Aboyne family. ABOUT GORDON TARTAN 193 Showing how it was designed in 1792; and how Jane Maxwell, Duchess of Gordon, wore a tartan gown at Court. THE STORY OF A KISS 196 Showing that the legend of the Duchess of Gordon's having kissed the recruits for the Gordon Highlanders in 1794 is open to the gravest doubt. THE GAYNESS OF A DIPLOMAT . .207 Sir William Gordon (died 1798), who shot out the eye of the Prince of Arenberg ; with an account of Charles Gordon, our consul in Tunis, 1750. AN OLD MAN OF THE SEA 220 Peter Gordon, who made two trips in a 65-ton schooner to the Sea of Okhotsk, Siberia, in 181 and 1 819; with some other seafaring Gordons. SOME "GEY" GORDONS 231 Giving an account of eccentric and notorious bearers of the name. A LIBERATOR OF GREECE 235 General Thomas Gordon of Buthlaw and Cairness, Aberdeenshire (1 788-1841), who fought in the Greek War of Independence. THE STORY OF A FATAL FLUTE . .247 Showing how Captain Gordon of the Swiss Guards invented a flute, which was superseded by Boehm's, and how he flung it into the Lake of Geneva in disgust. x CONTENTS PAGE THE LAST OF HIS LINE 253 An account of George, fifth and last Duke of Gordon (1 770-1836), who was the first colonel of the Gordon Highlanders. A NOBLE EARL AS AN A.B 268 An account of the sixth Earl of Aberdeen (1841-70), who spent three and a half years as a seaman in America under the name of George H. Osborne, and was swept overboard from the Hera on the voyage from Boston to Melbourne, January 27, 1870. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS To face page HUNTLY CASTLE, ABERDEENSHIRE Frontispiece JANE (MAXWELL), DUCHESS OF GORDON ii WHERE WALLENSTEIN WAS ASSASSINATED . 37 STANISLAS AUGUSTUS PONIATOWSKI . 53 "LE MARQUIS HUNTLY GORDON" 57 LADY SARAH BUNBURY AND LORD WILLIAM GORDON 109 " ANGELS' HEADS " 122 OTTO DIRCK GORDON i57 THE DUCHESS OF GORDON AS THE TARTAN BELLE I9S THE FIFTH AND LAST DUKE OF GORDON . 2 53 ELIZABETH (BRODIE), DUCHESS OF GORDON 263 XI THE GAY GORDONS THE "GUIDIN"' OF THE GORDONS Our surnames have long since become wholly empiric, but certain of them still carry the signifi- cance of descriptive adjectives. This is particularly true of the patronymics of some Scots families, probably because, though in no sense Highland themselves, they took on the colour of the clan. The fascination of the alliterative cliche which has given us such phrases as the " tu'penny tube" was well understood in Scotland long before halfpenny newspapers were dreamt of. Thus we have the "dirty Dalrymples," the "gallant Grahams," the " light Lindsays," the " manly Morisons," the " haughty Hamiltons," the "cappit Kers," the "gentle Johnstons," the "handsome Hays," the " muckle- mou'd Murrays," and the "gay Gordons." None of them has stood the test of time like the last. In our day its vitality has been assured by the popularity of the famous regiment the Gordon Highlanders ; but the prevalent idea that they have any prescriptive right to it is wholly misleading. It is true that the regiment was raised by a Gordon, — —— : " " 2 THE GAY GORDONS but at no time in its history did it number among its ranks more than a fraction of men bearing the sur- name. Even in the very first muster, when the men were raised almost exclusively on the Duke of Gordon's estates, there were only 20 Gordons out of 772 recruits, while there were 198 whose names began with the prefix " Mac-," with 32 Camerons and 12 Frasers. But the average man, strengthened in his belief by a musical comedy of the moment, will probably go on considering the Gordon Highlanders as the Gay Gordons. The phrase not only does not stand alone for the regiment, but it is only one of a series which indi- cates the same spirit. The dashing characteristics of the family long ago crystallized into a series of remarkable "frets." Thus The gool [darnel weed], the Gordon, and the hoodie craw Are the three worst foes that Moray ever saw. The notoriousness of the Gordons of Gight in Aberdeenshire, the maternal ancestors of Byron, was summed up in a series of strange "prophecies," as for example Twa men sat down by Ytham Brae The ane did to the ither say " And what sic men may the Gordons o' Gight hae been 1 A whole round of phrases bears on the same pre- sumption that the Gordons were men of mark.