James Dundas was born in 1570, the son of George Dundas (the 16th Laird of the Dundas Estate) and his wife, Katharine Oliphant. He was Member of Parliament for Edinburgh, and Governor of Berwick. He was the first of the Dundas family to own the Arniston estate after his father purchased it for him. James Dundas built the first Arniston House in 1620.
References:
http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/index/heritage/gardens/gardenssearchsummary.htm?s=Arniston&r=&bool=1&PageID=2309 [accessed 7 April 2008]
Mentioned in: Stuart Handley, ‘Dundas, Sir James, Lord Arniston (b. in or after 1619, d. 1679)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8252 accessed 7 April 2008]