James Dalrymple was first elected to North Berwick Town Council in 1789 and his colleagues immediately voted him Chief Magistrate (or provost). He served a total of three terms and in 1818 for the 'able and faithful manner in which he has discharged the duties of councillor' his portrait was gifted to the town.

This is a wood framed oil painting of man with a dark coat and white ruffled shirt. He has fair or greyish hair and sidewhiskers. He is named as 'Captain James Dalrymple/ Provost of North Berwick/ 1789-1820/portrait presented to Town Council AD 1818' on a bone plaque on the edge of the frame.

The Dalrymples of North Berwick dominated the town council for the greater part of the eighteenth century and the first part of the nineteenth. The family owned much of the land surrounding the town, which gave them the largest say in the appointment of ministers to the parish church.