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Olave Sinclair
Olave Sinclair of Havera (South Havra) and Brow (died 1573) was an official on Shetland, known as the "foud". He collected taxes due to the Scottish crown. His first name is sometimes written as Oliver, Ola, or Olaf.
Olave Sinclair was present at the battle of Summerdale in 1529 and in 1539 was given a respite (exemption from prosecution) for the death of John Sinclair, 3rd Earl of Caithness.
Olave Sinclair was probably a close relative of Edward Sinclair of Strome, who was foud of Shetland in the 1530s.
Olave Sinclair is said to have been blind in one eye, the result of leaping from Sumburgh Head to escape a band of marauders from the Isle of Lewis. A version of the story explains that Sinclair had a quarrel with William MacLeod of Lewis, whose wife had brought him lands in Shetland. Two previous attempts by the MacLeods to seize Sinclair in revenge for William MacLeod's death were foiled by his Fair Isle allies.
Sinclair was involved in the murder of a William Lewis or Lowis and his three servants on Shetland in the silence of night in June 1543. The assailant from Lewis, traditionally described as Hucheon MacLeod, seems to have been Hugh Morrison, brieve of Lewis, of Trotterness, who killed Olave's son, Henry Sinclair, around the year 1551. In October 1564, Mary, Queen of Scots granted Sinclair a remission from prosecution for this crime.
Sinclair was foud or foud depute, the office of foudry was a kind of bailiff or chamberlain of the Lordship of Shetland. He was sometimes called the "foud and chamberlain" or "Sheriff of Shetland". He presided over the Sheriff Court of Shetland held at Laxfirth (near Tingwall Airport) in March 1561. A letter in the Scots language confirming his appointment on 12 December 1561, calls him the "chamberlane and bailye of oure lordschip and landis of Yeitland, baith maineland and ilis". The word "foud" has a Danish or Norn origin, reflecting the history of the islands.
As foud, Sinclair collected feudal rents in money and farm produce due to the Scottish crown and sent them to Edinburgh. Rents typically included dairy produce, and the butter, known as the "fat goods" was barrelled in Kirkwall on Orkney and shipped to Leith. The skipper Robert Boswell took empty barrels and salt to Kirkwall. The produce was sold by the queen's argentar Alexander Durham to contribute to the household expenses of Mary, Queen of Scots. The fat goods were accounted in a local measure called a lipsund. Sinclair's merchant network included William Mudie of Breckness, Chamberlain of Orkney, and Andrew Lamb of Leith and Southtyre.
Orkney produce was recognised in Scottish court culture. In December 1566, during an entertainment written by George Buchanan for the baptism of James VI at Stirling Castle, Latin verses were sung by nymphs and satyrs in honour of the food and hosts, and characters represented the Orkney Islands.
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Olave Sinclair
Olave Sinclair of Havera (South Havra) and Brow (died 1573) was an official on Shetland, known as the "foud". He collected taxes due to the Scottish crown. His first name is sometimes written as Oliver, Ola, or Olaf.
Olave Sinclair was present at the battle of Summerdale in 1529 and in 1539 was given a respite (exemption from prosecution) for the death of John Sinclair, 3rd Earl of Caithness.
Olave Sinclair was probably a close relative of Edward Sinclair of Strome, who was foud of Shetland in the 1530s.
Olave Sinclair is said to have been blind in one eye, the result of leaping from Sumburgh Head to escape a band of marauders from the Isle of Lewis. A version of the story explains that Sinclair had a quarrel with William MacLeod of Lewis, whose wife had brought him lands in Shetland. Two previous attempts by the MacLeods to seize Sinclair in revenge for William MacLeod's death were foiled by his Fair Isle allies.
Sinclair was involved in the murder of a William Lewis or Lowis and his three servants on Shetland in the silence of night in June 1543. The assailant from Lewis, traditionally described as Hucheon MacLeod, seems to have been Hugh Morrison, brieve of Lewis, of Trotterness, who killed Olave's son, Henry Sinclair, around the year 1551. In October 1564, Mary, Queen of Scots granted Sinclair a remission from prosecution for this crime.
Sinclair was foud or foud depute, the office of foudry was a kind of bailiff or chamberlain of the Lordship of Shetland. He was sometimes called the "foud and chamberlain" or "Sheriff of Shetland". He presided over the Sheriff Court of Shetland held at Laxfirth (near Tingwall Airport) in March 1561. A letter in the Scots language confirming his appointment on 12 December 1561, calls him the "chamberlane and bailye of oure lordschip and landis of Yeitland, baith maineland and ilis". The word "foud" has a Danish or Norn origin, reflecting the history of the islands.
As foud, Sinclair collected feudal rents in money and farm produce due to the Scottish crown and sent them to Edinburgh. Rents typically included dairy produce, and the butter, known as the "fat goods" was barrelled in Kirkwall on Orkney and shipped to Leith. The skipper Robert Boswell took empty barrels and salt to Kirkwall. The produce was sold by the queen's argentar Alexander Durham to contribute to the household expenses of Mary, Queen of Scots. The fat goods were accounted in a local measure called a lipsund. Sinclair's merchant network included William Mudie of Breckness, Chamberlain of Orkney, and Andrew Lamb of Leith and Southtyre.
Orkney produce was recognised in Scottish court culture. In December 1566, during an entertainment written by George Buchanan for the baptism of James VI at Stirling Castle, Latin verses were sung by nymphs and satyrs in honour of the food and hosts, and characters represented the Orkney Islands.