James King (soldier)

James King, 1st Lord Eythin (1589–1652) was a Scottish soldier, who served in the Swedish army, and who later supported King Charles I in the Bishops' Wars, and then later in the English Civil War.

James King was born on Warbester Hoy, in the Orkney Islands. He was recruited into the Swedish Army in 1615, and in 1622 he was a Captain in Ruthven's regiment. By 1634 King had gained some prominence and commanded three of the regiments at the siege of Hildersheim. For this action he was promoted Major General. By 1636, he was a Lieutenant General and commanded the left wing of the Swedish Army at the as part of Alexander Leslie's Army of the Weser. His report of the battle, and his role within it lay undetected until recently, but has now been published. After Wittstock, King's cavalry formed an Army Volante supported by his fellow Scot, Major General John Ruthven who had also fought at Wittstock. The conducted a largely successful campaign around Minden throughout early 1637. However, the Swedish campaign began to falter and problems arose with the German allies. Many of the Scots found themselves unpopular in wishing to press for the Restoration of the Palatinate causing tensions with some of their Swedish allies. Moreover, tensions in Scotland saw Leslie leave to form the Army of the Covenant in Scotland leaving King in charge of the remnant Army of the Weser. With this much reduced force, coupled with fresh levies from England led by William Lord Craven, King was defeated at the Battle of Vlotho. Craven and Prince Rupert of the Rhine were captured by the victorious Imperialists. It was unfortunate that King blamed Rupert's rashness for the defeat, while Rupert in turn blamed King's caution.

After quarrels with the Swedish commanders, King was sidelined to duties in , although he was ennobled. He travelled to Hamburg in 1639, where King Charles employed him initially as a military recruiter. He sat out the Bishops' Wars between Charles I and the Scottish Covenanters, thus avoiding conflict with his long-time comrade, Alexander Leslie. Indeed, his actions may have been sanctioned by Leslie who appeared to constantly protect him in the Scottish Parliament. However, his two surviving wills indicate that King was either a Roman Catholic or High Lutheran as he invokes the Holy Trinity in each - something not common in the typical Scottish testament of the period.

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