Field Marshal John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of Stair, KT, PC (20 July 1673 – 9 May 1747) was a Scottish soldier and diplomat.

[4] He became 2nd Earl of Stair in January 1707 when his father died and later that year he was elected as one of sixteen Scottish representative peers in the newly formed Parliament of Great Britain.

[7] According to the Duc de Saint-Simon, Stair quickly established friendly relations with Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, Regent to the young King Louis XV, paving the way for the Triple Alliance.

[9] However, his intemperate hostility to the Scottish financier John Law, whom the Regent had appointed controller of Louis XV's finances, cost him the confidence of British government ministers.

[13] In 1729, he became Vice Admiral of Scotland, but lost the position on 5 May 1733,[14] mainly because of his opposition to the Excise Bill of 1733 promoted by Prime Minister Robert Walpole.

[1] He was promoted to full general, on the basis of seniority, on 27 October 1735[15] and also found time to lay out the gardens at Castle Kennedy in the 1730s.

[19] He was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in South Britain on 28 February 1743[20] and colonel of the Black Dragoons again on 30 April 1743[21] and led the allies to victory at the Battle of Dettingen in June 1743.

[4] Sir Walter Scott's story My Aunt Margaret's Mirror is believed to have been based on efforts made by the Earl of Stair to get Lady Eleanor Primrose Campbell to marry him.