But the presbyterian party, also, for which he had done and suffered so much, also treated him with little respect, considering him too deeply concerned in the late oppressive and cruel system to be worthy of their confidence. Under these circumstances he breathed his last, on the 25th of November, 1695, in the 77th year of his age, and was buried in the High church of Edinburgh.
Lord Stair had been married, in 1643, to Margaret Ross, co-heiress of the estate of Balneil, in Wigtonshire; by whom he had five sons, and four daughters. The eldest son, John, having held office under James II., was, like his father, held in suspicion by the presbyterian party; but nevertheless attained high office under the revolution government. He was secretary of state for Scotland, and elevated to the rank of earl of Stair, in 1703. On his death, in 1707, he was succeeded in his title by the celebrated commander and diplomatist, John, second earl of Stair. The junior branches of the family have produced fruit almost equally distinguished. Sir James Dalrymple, the second son, was himself the author of "Collections concerning Scottish History preceding the death of David I.," which appeared in 1705, and the grandfather of Sir John Dalrymple, of Cranston, author of that excellent work, "Memoirs of Great Britain and Ireland, from the dissolution of the last parliament of Charles II., until the sea battle off La Hogue," in two volumes, 4to. The youngest son, Sir David, was the grandfather of lord Hailes, and Alexander Dalrymple, two persons already commemorated in this work. Through these channels, and by the alliances of his daughters, the blood of lord Stair now flows in most of the noble families in Scotland. The historical eminence of the family is only to be paralelled by the immense influence which it possessed for many years in this country, an influence hardly matched by that of the Dundasses in later times.[1]
DALRYMPLE, John, second earl of Stair, was the second son of the first earl, and the grandson of the subject of the preceding memoir. He was born at Edinburgh, July 20, 1673, and, while yet a mere boy, had the misfortune to kill his elder brother by the accidental discharge of a pistol. Although a royal remission was procured for this offence, his parents found it necessary for their own comfort to banish him from their sight, as his presence awakened the most painful associations. He was therefore placed for some years under the charge of a clergyman in Ayrshire, a humane and sensible man, who soon perceived the excellent qualities of his pupil's character. Under the charge of this person, he became a proficient scholar, and in the course of time, through a series of favourable reports to his parents, he had the satisfaction of seeing the young exile restored to the bosom of his family, of which he was destined to be the principal ornament The more advanced parts of his education, he received at Leyden, where he was reputed one of the best scholars in the university, and subsequently at the college of his native city. His first appearance in life was as a volunteer under the earl of Angus, commander of the Cameronian regiment, at the battle of Steinkirk, in August, 1692, being then nineteen years of age. For some years afterwards, he devoted himself at Leyden to the study of that profession in which two preceding generations of his family had already gained
- ↑ We preserve, for drollery's sake, the following easy rhymes which lord Auchinleck, father of James Bosweil, used to repeat, as descriptive of the succession of predominating influences in Scotland during the last century :
First cam the men o' mony wimples,
In common language ca'd Da 'rumples,
And after them cam the Dundasses,
Wha raide our lords and lairds like asses.
A quatrain, it must be confessed, more true than respectful, although, in both cases alike, the predominance was grounded on inherent family talent.
