James Turner

Sir James Turner (1615 – after 1685) was a Scottish professional soldier of the 17th century.

Life

Early life and foreign service

Turner was the eldest son of Patrick Turner (d.1634), minister of Dalkeith, and Margaret Law. He was educated at Glasgow University, graduating MA in 1631 (very much against his will, according to his later memoirs). His parents had intended for him to follow his father into the church, but Turner was determined to become a soldier, and in 1632 he travelled to Germany and enlisted in the service of Gustavus Adolphus, then embroiled in the Thirty Years' War, under the command of Sir James Lumsden.

With the Scottish army

By 1639 he had been promoted to captain, and returned to Scotland in search of employment, but soon departed again for Germany. In 1640 he attempted to travel to England to offer his services to Charles I in the Bishops' War, but failed to make contact with Charles's army. He instead entered service with the opposing Scottish Covenanting army at Newcastle, although he never signed the Covenant himself and appears to have remained more interested in joining the Royalist party; and criticised him for leaving garrisons behind without a source of water, leading to their rapid surrender. Turner was involved in Leslie's defeats of Mac Colla at the Battle of Rhunahaorine Moss and at Dunaverty. By 1647 he was made adjutant-general of the Scottish army. and he added to an existing reputation for cruelty, it appears that he did not exceed his commission and did not go as far in enforcing Episcopacy as he was being urged by Archbishop James Sharp and others.

Despite his claims of not going beyond his commission, his actions provoked the Pentland Rising in 1666: surprised and captured at Dumfries, he was (according to some sources) repeatedly on the point of being put to death, but later escaped when some of his guards ran away, and he struck a deal (which was honoured) with the others to negotiate their surrender. In general he seems to have been treated well, his main complaint about his treatment being the interminably long graces he was compelled to listen to at mealtimes. Turner was blamed by the Scottish privy council for the Rising's outbreak, and was deprived of his commissions. For some fifteen years he then lived in retirement at Glasgow and his estate in Ayrshire, occupying himself with writing. In 1683-4 he was again involved in suppressing uprisings in south-west Scotland, but appears to have died soon after 1685, although the exact date of his death is unknown. Because of this and his own lack of money at the time he did not marry her until three years later in Hexham.

Literary works

Turner is best known for his memoirs, first printed in 1819 long after his death. However, in his lifetime he published Pallas Armata, a set of essays on classical and modern warfare. He left a large number of manuscripts, catalogued as British Museum Add MS 12067 (now in the British Library), including philosophical essays, biographies, translations into English from Petrarch, and correspondence. Robert Wodrow characterised him as "bookish", while Gilbert Burnet (who knew him well in later life) said that "he was a learned man, but had been always in armies" and described him as "naturally fierce, but was mad when he was drunk, and that was very often". Dalgetty's unintentionally humorous (over)use of Latin proverbs and quotes in particular has similarities to Turner's memoirs. His career may also have suggested some incidents incorporated by Scott in Old Mortality.