thumb|200px|Shield of arms of John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of Stair, KT, PC
Field Marshal John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of Stair, (20 July 16739 May 1747) was a British army officer and diplomat who served as the British ambassador to France from 1714 to 1720. He served in the Nine Years' War, War of the Spanish Succession and War of the Austrian Succession.
Early military career
Born the son of John Dalrymple, 2nd Viscount Stair (and later 1st Earl of Stair), and Elizabeth Dalrymple (née Dundas), Dalrymple accidentally killed his brother in a shooting accident in April 1682 and thereafter spent most of his early life in the Netherlands where he studied at Leiden University. He joined up as a volunteer for the Nine Years' War with the Earl of Angus's Regiment and fought at the Battle of Steenkerque in August 1692. At Steenkerque he rallied his regiment several times when the ranks had been broken by cannon fire. In 1695 he became Master of Stair when his father succeeded to the Viscountcy of Stair.
He was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel in the 3rd Foot Guards on 12 May 1702 and fought with John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, during the War of the Spanish Succession at the Siege of Venlo in September 1702. and became colonel of the Black Dragoons on 9 April 1714.
Diplomatic service
When King George I ascended to the throne in August 1714, Dalrymple was sent as an envoy to the Court of France at Versailles.
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. During his time in Paris, Stair's spies effectively thwarted various "intrigues" by the Jacobites. 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.
From 1715 to 1720 Stair was based as ambassador at Versailles, where he was greatly inspired by the landscaping.
Stair retired from his position as ambassador in France in June 1720. On his return to Scotland, Stair planted extensively on the Versailles model at his estates at both Newliston House and Castle Kennedy. mainly because of his opposition to the Excise Bill of 1733 promoted by Prime Minister Robert Walpole. and also found time to lay out the gardens at Castle Kennedy in the 1730s.
War of the Austrian Succession
thumb|right|300px|[[George II at the Battle of Dettingen by John Wootton, 1743. Dalrymple led the allies to victory at Dettingen during the War of the Austrian Succession]]
thumb|The monument to John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of Stair, Kirkliston
On 20 March 1742, after Walpole had fallen from office, Dalrymple was promoted to field marshal. On 17 April 1742 he was made Governor of Minorca and on 20 April 1742 took command of the "Pragmatic Army" sent to act with Hanoverian and Austrian forces in support of the Pragmatic Sanction to defend the succession of Maria Theresa to the Austrian monarchy. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in South Britain on 28 February 1743 and colonel of the Black Dragoons again on 30 April 1743 and led the allies to victory at the Battle of Dettingen in June 1743. He retired from command of the army in Flanders at his own request on account of his advancing years in September 1743 and retired as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces to make way for General George Wade in 1745.
On 4 June 1745 he became colonel of the Grey Dragoons and on 14 June 1746 he became General of the Marine Forces. His favourite residence was Newliston near Kirkliston in Linlithgowshire, where he laid out gardens in the French style.
He died on 9 May 1747 at Queensberry House in Edinburgh and was buried in the family vault at Kirkliston. Stair wanted his earldom to pass to his nephew John Dalrymple; but on 4 May 1748 the House of Lords ruled that the right to nominate an heir had lapsed, and the earldom passed to the legal heir James Dalrymple, 3rd Earl of Stair.