Nathaniel Gordon

By Lt. Col. Malcolm McVittie

The Marquis of Montrose (1612-1650) is rightly famous for his remarkable Annus Mirabilis from 1 September 1644 until his defeat at Philiphaugh on 13th September during which time he won seven battles defeating every Covenant army in Scotland. However, he could not have achieved what he did without some significant support from his subordinate commanders. Chief amongst those was the redoubtable Alastair MacDonald “MacColla” who lead the Irish Brigade as the core of Montrose’s Army. There were others including Lord George Gordon, the Marquis of Huntly’s son whose association with Montrose was sadly brief as he was killed at the Battle of Alford. The Earl of Airlie was an experienced soldier who was thought to have been born C1586 which would have made him aged 58 at the time that he was on Montrose’s campaign. In the modern army this is beyond the age at which most officers are invited to retire. In addition to MacColla, there was also Manus O’Cahan a most loyal Irish regimental commander. But one of the most persistent officers was Nathaniel Gordon who fought with Montrose as a commander of foot and horse from joining Montrose’s army just after the battle of Tippermuir until he was captured after Montrose’s defeat at Philiphaugh, twelve months later.

Nathaniel Gordon was born in 1602 as the third of four sons of John Gordon of Ardlogie and who had married Margaret Keir who was herself born about 1580. His brothers included John and Adam and his younger brother George. He also appears to have had a younger sister Jonet (?) but information about her is very limited. It is also apparent that John Gordon Married a second time to Isabel Innes and had a further daughter Elizabeth Gordon. It is doubtful if the Scottish Reformation had reached these parts of Aberdeenshire by the end of the 16 th Century and it is most likely that the Gordon Family as did their chief remained Roman Catholic.

Ardlogie is a patch of moorland to the East of Fyvie. There are buildings on that ground which bear the name Ardlogie but do not date to the period of Nat’s birth. Ardlogie House in Fyvie is an 18 th Century building and formerly the manse to the nearby church. There is also no evidence to suggest where Nat may have received his education. Parish schools were not compulsory until late in the 17 th Century but given their subsequent careers as officers in various forces it is assumed that the Gordon boys must have had sufficient education to raise them above their subordinates.

The careers of his brothers are sketchy to say the least. His eldest brother John Gordon commanded a royalist troop of horse at the Battle of Megray Hill just south of Aberdeen in June 1639. Adam Gordon joined the Scots Army in France in 1625 and there is evidence that his younger brother George was, in his youth, involved in a scuffle or fight but sadly when or where is yet to be discovered.

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Map of the area around Fyvie, showing the location of Nathaniel’s home of Ardlogie (bottom right)

John Gordon of Ardlogie, Nathaniel’s father, had been involved in a number of incidents as a leader of certain “debauched and lawless limmers calling themselves the ‘Society and Companie of Boyes’ whose zeal for the Romish religion drove about the countryside lifting goods of such neighbours as were in spiritual darkness”. Clearly, Nathaniel Gordon grew up in a family not unfamiliar with lawless and violent behaviour and he was almost certainly a catholic. Nathaniel Gordon would have accompanied his father and his elder brother John on the Frendraught raid in 1634 as a revenge attack for the death by burning of the Gordon of Rothiemay and Viscount Aboyne. Nathaniel probably left the country with his father and made his way to Germany where his father died in 1638.

Nat Gordon next comes to light as a Royalist officer under command of Colonel Johnstone defending the Brig O’Dee on 18 th June 1639 against a covenanting army lead by the Earl of Montrose. After Montrose brought up more artillery Colonel Middleton was able to force the bridge and the Royalists including Nat Gordon were dispersed. Following the battle of the Brig O’Dee, the pacification of Berwick bought the 1st

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Bishops’ War to an end. After the battle Montrose arrested the Marquis of Huntly and took him to Edinburgh where he was subsequently released. However, this incident soured relations between Montrose and Huntly which never recovered.

The following year Nat Gordon married Grizel Seton. Nat Gordon by now was 36 or 37 years old. It is not known whether Grisel Seton was related in any way to the Earl of Dunfermline who lived in Fyvie Castle at the time. The Earl did have a daughter named Grizel but she is recorded as dying without marrying. His wife gave him one son. It is between his marriage and the campaigns of Montrose that he may have committed adultery with Jean Gordon by whom he had a further child. It was said of him that he was fancy free and did not let the marriage vow interfere with his inclinations!

Also during this time, Nat Gordon may have returned to Germany as a soldier of fortune as he returns later as Major Gordon, a rank that he may have earned in a Scots regiment in Europe. In February 1644, after his return to Scotland and he and his friends were responsible for raiding the lands of Tarty when they encountered a party of Covenanters on a similar mission against the estates of persistent loyalists. The Covenanters were routed and disarmed. Encouraged by this success the same band of loyalists kidnapped the Provost and Magistrates of Aberdeen on 19 th March and held them until their release was precipitated by the arrival of the Marquis of Argyll on 7 th May. Gordon was also involved in a raid on a Danish fishing boat on 5 th April which had been captured by an English pirate boat. The pirate in retaliation began to harry the local shipping and the fishing population, who suffered the most, complained to the Marquis of Huntly who ticked off Nat Gordon which Nat resented.

On 24th April, Gordon with the Laird of Drum raided Montrose. The town was in a state of defence and having broken in Gordon’s followers killed a Baillie, Alexander Pearson, and captured two brass cannon. Whilst they hope to escape by sea their escape was blocked by the arrival of the Provost and 20 musketeers by the very boat they hoped to commandeer. They ditched the cannon and plundered the town for ten hours before finally withdrawing. At this stage it might have been wise for Nat Gordon to leave Scotland. He sent his resignation to Huntly and offered his services to Lord George Gordon but these were declined. The Covenanters were active in the pursuit of the Royalists. 0n 5th May they fell on Gordon country and accepted the surrender of Sir John Gordon of Haddo and the Gordon of Gight. They were both taken to Edinburgh as prisoners. The Marquis of Huntly and six others were the subject of a reward of 18,000 merks dead or alive. One of those six was Nat Gordon. But on hearing this, Nat Gordon determined to fight it out until death and defend himself as long as he could.

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In September 1644, whilst enjoying the freedom of independent banditry in South Aberdeenshire, Nat Gordon and his band of 30 Gordon horsemen heard of the victory of new Royalist army under the command of Montrose at the Battle of Tippermuir on 1 st September and Nat Gordon rode south to join a useful cause. It is thought that Nat

A picture of a cavalry officer of the 17th century. Nathaniel would have likely worn similar clothing.

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Gordon’s 30 troopers joined up with the Earl of Airlie’s 40 troopers to form Montrose’s first contingent of horse. Sadly because of Montrose’s involvement with the Marquis of Huntly during the First Bishops’ War, Huntly was unwilling to join Montrose and discouraged his clansmen from doing so.

Montrose’s approach on Aberdeen where he hoped to recruit more Royalists was met by a force of some 2,500 foot and 500 horse. The Covenanters had marched out of

Map of the Battle of Fyvie, showing Fyvie Castle, the village of Fyvie and Montrose’s camp

Aberdeen and formed up on the Old Justice Mills road facing south. Nat Gordon commanded the left flank reinforced by a company of Irish Musketeers. After preliminaries in the centre of the battlefield Lord Balfour of Burleigh attempted to outflank to Royalist to their left. This was spotted by Nat Gordon who urgently sent for reinforcements from the Ogilvie detachment of Horse who joined Gordon. Having rebuffed the first encounter Nat Gordon counter attacked vigorously and drove off the Covenanting horse and cut down the 400 covenanting foot. The armies engaged in the centre and there was a fierce battle which resulted in the Covenanters falling back into Aberdeen pursued by the Irish. What followed was not witnessed by Montrose until the following day. Many covenanting soldiers were cut down but so were

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many civilians, including men, women and children. This was a stain on Montrose’s reputation but it was behaviour which Montrose would never tolerate in the future. Nat Gordon may have entered Aberdeen but such a location was not suitable for horse and having obtained clothing and food for his troops, he withdrew.

After the Battle of Aberdeen, Montrose tried to woo the Marquis of Huntly and the Gordons as recruits to his cause. Despite their Royalist inclinations the Gordons were inhibited by Huntly’s resentment of Montrose. Having extricated his army from Aberdeen became aware that Argyll had closed on the city with a considerable army. Montrose led Argyll away from Gordon country and complete what became known as the “strange coursing”. Nat Gordon could not follow Montrose into the highlands because of difficulties with forage but he rejoined Montrose at Fyvie on 27 th October. Montrose was somewhat surprised by the presence of Argyll and his force which crossed the Ythan river on 28 th October and closed with Montrose at his position just to the west of Fyvie Castle. Nat Gordon and his troop of horse were out foraging at the time and had to hasten back to Fyvie and was posted on the exposed east flank with his modest troop of forty horse. The main attack by the covenanting foot was in the centre but this was driven back by a vigorous counter attack by the Irish. Later in the afternoon Argyll tried to outflank Montrose to the east but Nat Gordon despite being seriously outnumbered by the covenanting horse by at least 10:1, led a vigorous charge and threw back the Covenanting horse. This action was typical of Nat Gordon’s style. The next day Argyll having made little further impact withdrew his army towards Aberdeen believing that he had neutralized Montrose for the rest of the campaigning season. Montrose was able to escape with much of his modest force intact and retired to Blair Atholl.

As Argyll moved into winter quarters he was offering amnesties to those Royalists who cared to accept and Montrose agreed that Nat Gordon should accept such an amnesty and use his comparative freedom to track down Lord George Gordon and persuade him to join the Royalists. This he managed to achieve and he further improved the Royalist position in Aberdeenshire and rode into Aberdeen on 9 th March with 100 troopers to receive the keys of the town. He was able to release Royalist prisoners and he went on to raid the Covenant arsenal at Torry and to carry off a large quantity of pike and muskets. Later on 12 th March Nat Gordon returned to Aberdeen with Donald Farquharson and a number of cavaliers returned Aberdeen for some light relief. Confident that Aberdeen was safe they posted no sentries nor took any measures for defence. They dispersed through the town eating, drinking and enjoying each other’s company. However, Covenant sympathisers witnessing their presence sent word to General Baillie who was camped south of Aberdeen and Sir John Hurry was sent with a force of 160 troopers and arrived at the gates of Aberdeen on 15 th March. They

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burst into the town cutting down any Royalists that they found. Gordon, perhaps used to such situations, kept a low profile and stayed indoors. Unfortunately, Donald Farquharson ventured into the open and was shot down. The death of Farquharson was a severe blow to Montrose and Huntly was furious with Gordon because he had lent him his best horse which had been lost to the Covenanters.

There is no mention of Nat Gordon being involved in the seizure and retreat from Dundee on 4 th April but he does reappear in the line for the Battle of Auldearn, on 9 th May. He had by now established a rapport with the Irish and commanded a force of Gordons place to the right of the Irish on Castle Hill. Little is known of Nat Gordon’s part in the Battle but the Irish and Gordon foot held their ground until Montrose released the Gordon Horse under the command of Lord George Gordon. Their impact into the right flank of the Covenanters turned the battle and the Covenanters under command of Sir John Hurry broke and fled the battlefield.

Despite this victory at Auldearn Montrose still had to contend with an army under command of General Baillie. After Auldearn there were the usual desertions by the clansmen and MacColla took off most of the Irish to recruit in the western highlands. Montrose was left with a seriously depleted force and found it necessary to avoid contact before he could rebuild his army. Lord Gordon assisted by Nat Gordon worked hard to recover the Gordon contingent. Huntly, jealous of Montrose’s success had been undermining Montrose for his own personal reasons and was himself safely further north. Montrose found Baillie at Keith but Baillie was in a strong defensive position and would not be drawn out. But once he learnt that most of the Irish were absent from Montrose’s army he felt more confident that he could take on Montrose so he left his secure position and followed Montrose south over the River Don at the Alford crossing over which Montrose took up a defensive position.

In this battle Nat Gordon commanded a small force of Irish on foot supporting Lord George Gordon’s 150 horse on the Royalist right flank. Lord George Gordon charged the Covenanting cavalry under command of Lord Balcarres on the left of General Baillie’s line. Nat Gordon followed up and when they caught up with the melee, Nat Gordon ordered his troops to throw down their muskets and engage the horse with their swords he urged them to cut girths and hamstring the horses. This tactic required extraordinary bravery but the tactic worked and both man and beast began to panic and much of Balcarres force fled the battlefield. Unfortunately, late in the battle Lord George Gordon penetrated General Baillie’s lines and tried to pull Baillie off his horse but just as he was within reach he was shot down. Once it was known that Lord Gordon was dead to pursuit of the fleeing covenanters was called off.

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After the Battle of Alford news reached Montrose of the defeat of the King at Nazeby and it was clear that he should march south as soon as possible.

Baillie tried to resign but was persuaded to pursue Montrose and he found Montrose camped near Kilsyth. This was the largest battle of the campaign with 6000 foot on the Covenanting side and 4000 foot on the royalist side with both having a similar number of horse. For this battle Nat Gordon was once again commanding a detachment of Gordon Horse position on the left (Northern) flank. Together with the Earl of Airlie’s troop of Ogilvies the Royalists defended the northern flank and prevented Baillie’s advance guard under Haldane from securing the high ground to the North. A spirited charge by the MacLeans and Irish in the centre turned the battle and the Covenanters left the field. After the battle Nat Gordon with a squadron of light horse were despatched to release Royalist prisoners being held by the Covenanters at Linlithgow and Edinburgh.

Now that Montrose had defeated all the Covenant forces in Scotland he called parliament to sit in Glasgow on 20 th October and he busied himself with the complexity of setting up a new parliament. Happy that his army was secure Montrose allowed the highlanders to return home for their harvest and MacColla set off for the west to settle old scores. Montrose was concerned that the Border Lords despite their promises may need further persuasion to join the Royalist cause. On 3 rd September, Montrose struck camp to march South but he was struck by a further desertion. Lord Aboyne had apparently been ordered by his father, the Marquis of Huntly, to return to the North East. However there may have been jealousy nearer by in the form of Aboyne’s resentment at being superseded by the Earl of Crawford as Montrose’s cavalry commander. Nat Gordon, the only remaining Gordon joined up Manus O’Cahan’s regiment and marched south towards Selkirk.

On the evening of 12 th September, Montrose and his army were at Selkirk with the bulk of his army camped on the flats at Philiphaugh. Montrose and many of his officers took billets in Selkirk and Montrose was unaware that General David Leslie with a force of 5000 horse and 1000 dragoons had marched north and his presence caused further defections during that night. In the early hours of the morning of 13 th September Montrose’s force of upto 700 foot and 150 horse were surprised by Leslie’s approach from the north. The Irish were entrenched in the centre ground and rebuffed the first attack and, despite being seriously outnumbered, counter attacked Leslie’s horse and momentarily checked their advance but were overwhelmed. Even a frenzied charge of 150 Horse led by Montrose failed to make any impact. The battle was lost and Montrose was persuaded to leave the battlefield to live and possibly fight another day. Manus O’Cahan’s 500 Irish, of whom over 200 had been killed in the

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Newark Castle, where 300 Irish were taken and then executed.

battle on were left to surrender to Leslie’s force. Nat Gordon was taken prisoner with them. Manus O’Cahan and Nat Gordon were separated and taken to Edinburgh, the remaining 300 Irish were taken to nearby Newark Castle where they dug their own grave and were executed.

Nat Gordon attempted to negotiate an exchange of prisoners but he was rebuffed. The Scottish Parliament moved to St Andrews on 26 th November where it presided over the trials of a number of Royalists. Nat Gordon rather uncharacteristically was said to have repented all his sins including adultery and drunkenness as well as shedding innocent blood. The excommunication imposed because of his adultery with Jean Gordon was lifted. Nat Gordon was executed in St Andrews on 20 th January 1646 with several others by the ‘maiden’ which had been brought from Dundee specially for the purpose.

Nat Gordon was an extraordinary character, clearly a very competent soldier both on foot and on horseback. It is certain that his selfless courage made him and inspiring leader. He is described variously thus:

Patrick Gordon in Britain’s Distemper “He was well beloved even by his enemies.” “Too valorous a cavalier”. Wishart says of him that he was “famous for his courage and military skill” and that he was a “brave and faithful gentleman” “who had great influence in his country” Walter Scott considered him “one of the bravest and best soldiers in Europe”. John Buchan described him as “an intrepid and seasoned soldier”.

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