Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Dalrymple, James (fl.1714)
DALRYMPLE, Sir JAMES (fl. 1714), Scottish antiquary, was the second son of Sir James Dalrymple, bart., of Stair, afterwards first Viscount Stair [q. v.], by Margaret, daughter of James Ross of Balniel. He was admitted a member of the Faculty of Advocates 25 June 1675 and was appointed one of the commissaries of Edinburgh. Afterwards he became one of the principal clerks of the court of session. He was created a baronet of Nova Scotia 28 April 1698. He was thrice married, and had a numerous family.
Dalrymple was a man of great learning, and one of the best antiquaries of his time. He published: 1. ‘Apology for himself, 1690,’ Edinburgh, 1825, 4to, only seventy-two copies printed (Lowndes, Bibl. Man. ed. Bohn, p. 583). 2. ‘Collections concerning the Scottish History preceding the death of King David the First in 1153. Wherein the sovereignty of the Crown and independency of the Church are cleared, and an account given of the antiquity of the Scottish British Church and the noveltie of Popery in this Kingdom,’ Edinburgh, 1705, 8vo. William Atwood [q. v.], barrister-at-law, published ‘Remarks’ on these ‘Collections,’ which were also adversely criticised by John Gillane in his ‘Life of John Sage,’ 1714. 3. ‘A Vindication of the Ecclesiastical Part of Sir John Dalrymple's Historical Collections: in answer to a pamphlet entitled “The Life of Mr. John Sage,”’ Edinburgh, 1714, 8vo.
[Douglas's Peerage of Scotland (Wood), ii. 522; Watt's Bibl. Brit.; Anderson's Scottish Nation, ii. 5; Cat. of Printed Books in Brit. Mus.; Foster's Baronetage (1882), 173; Foster's Peerage (1882), 628.]