FOUNDER OF RUSSIAN NAVY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16026, 18 September 1915, Page 5 (Supplement)

FOUNDER OF RUSSIAN NAVY.

I.v a good many cases 'the names of Scottish settlers in Russia remain unchanged. as in the case, for example, of Greig, the son of a Firth of Forth skipper, who may be said to have been the founder of the Russian Navy. As Governor of Kronstadt, he was the author of the fortifications there; and, as a French writer remarks, the Scotsman built those walls which, years afterwards, were to check the career of his countryman. Sir Charles Napier, "Fighting Charlie'' (for Lord Charles Beresford was not the first to be so-called), who tried his teeth on Greig's handiwork during the Crimean War. The Greigs grew to be very good Russians, one of them blooming into a Minister of Finance, though for several generations they continued to receive their education at the High School. Edinburgh. The name of Gordon is still of frequent occurence in the Russian Army list (though it is now also being extensively usurped by Polish Jews), the most lustrous name on the roll being that of Peter the Great's general. Patrick, of Auchleuchries, in the shire of Aberdeen, a county which also contributed to Russia the soldier stock now represented by Prince Barclav de Tolly, locally pronounced " Towie."