DUNBAR, JAMES [SSNE 129]

Surname

DUNBAR, DUMBAR, DUMBARA

First name

JAMES, JACOB, JAKOB

Title/rank

MAJOR

Nationality

SCOT

Social status

OFFICER

Text source

James Dunbar served in the British regiment of Sir Andrew Gray in Bohemia between 1621 and 1623 where he became known as 'Dumbara'. After the Danish phase of the conflict opened he elisted as a major in Mackay's regiment. He was killed in action at Breitenburg in 1627 after a stout defence which lasted several days in the face of a vast Imperial army and during which he twice refused quarter and gained considerable respect for the regiment.

J. Polisensky, 'A note of Scottish Soldiers in the Bohemian War, 1619-1622' in Steve Murdoch, (ed.), Scotland and the Thirty Years' War, 1618-1648 (Leiden, 2001), p.111; G. Lind, Danish Data Archive 1573. T. Riis, Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot (Odense, 1988), II, p.130; J. Mackay, 'Mackay's Regiment' in Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, VIII, 1879, p. 185; R. Monro, His Expedition with a worthy Scots Regiment Called Mackay's (London, 1637), pp.1 and 38-9; Steve Murdoch, Network North: Scottish Kin, Commercial and Covert Associations in Northern Europe, 1603-1746 (Brill, Leiden, 2006), p.39.

Service record

DENMARK-NORWAY, MACKAY'S REGIMENT

Arrived 1626-10-01, as MAJOR

Departed 1627-09-29, as MAJOR

Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY