Olave Sinclair (died 1573) of Havera (South Havra) and Brow (near Dunrossness) was an official on Shetland,Peter D. Anderson, Robert Stewart, Earl of Orkney, Lord Shetland (John Donald, 1982), pp. 83, 97, 99. known as the "foud". He collected taxes due to the Scottish crown. His first name is sometimes written as Oliver, Ola, or Olaf.T. Manson, 'Shetland in the Sixteenth-Century', Ian Cowan & Duncan Shaw, The Renaissance and Reformation in Scotland (Edinburgh, 1983), p. 207.
Battle of Summerdale 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.John H. Ballantyne & Brian Smith, Shetland Documents, 1195-1579 (Lerwick, 1999), p. 47 no. 65.
Olave Sinclair was probably a close relative of Edward Sinclair of Strome, who was foud of Shetland in the 1530s.John H. Ballantyne & Brian Smith, Shetland Documents, 1195-1579 (Lerwick, 1999), p. 39 no. 55.
Feud with the MacLeod of Lewis 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.T. Manson, 'Shetland in the Sixteenth-Century', Ian Cowan & Duncan Shaw, The Renaissance and Reformation in Scotland (Edinburgh, 1983), p. 207. 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.Gilbert Goudie, Diary of the Reverend John Mill (Edinburgh: SHS, 1889), pp. 176-7.
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.John H. Ballantyne & Brian Smith, Shetland Documents, 1195-1579 (Lerwick, 1999), p. 53 no. 53.Aonghas MacCoinnich, Plantation and Civility in the North Atlantic World: The Case of the Northern Hebrides (Brill, 2015), p. 72. 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.John H. Ballantyne & Brian Smith, Shetland Documents, 1195-1579 (Lerwick, 1999), p. 71 no. 106: Aonghas MacCoinnich, Plantation and Civility in the North Atlantic World (Brill, 2015), p. 72. In October 1564, Mary, Queen of Scots granted Sinclair a remission from prosecution for this crime.James Beveridge & Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Seal, 5:1 (Edinburgh, 1957), p. 500 no. 1764.
Foud of Shetland
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".John H. Ballantyne & Brian Smith, Shetland Documents, 1195-1579 (Lerwick, 1999), pp. 92 no. 192, 96 no. 131. 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".John H. Ballantyne & Brian Smith, Shetland Documents, 1195-1579 (Lerwick, 1999), pp. 83 no. 125, 98-9 no. 133. The word "foud" has a Danish or Norn origin, reflecting the history of the islands.T. Manson, 'Shetland in the Sixteenth-Century', Ian Cowan & Duncan Shaw, The Renaissance and Reformation in Scotland (Edinburgh, 1983), p. 205.'Foude', DOST/DSLHance D. Smith, Shetland life and trade, 1550–1914 (Edinburgh: John Donald, 1984), p. 333: Jane Dawson, Scotland Re-formed, 1488–1587 (Edinburgh, 2007) p. 41: Ian D. Whyte, Agriculture and society in seventeenth-century Scotland (Edinburgh: John Donald, 1979), p. 44.
As foud, Sinclair collected feudal rents in money and farm produce due to the Scottish crown and sent them to Edinburgh.Gilbert Goudie, 'Fouds, Lawightmen, and Ranselmen of Shetland', PSAS, 26 (March 1892) p. 191 Rents typically included dairy produce, and the butter, known as the "fat goods" was barrelled in Kirkwall on Orkney and shipped to Leith.Michael Pearce, "Account of George Wishart of Drymme", Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, 17 (Edinburgh: SHS, 2025), pp. 4–5, 8–10, 17. 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.John H. Ballantyne & Brian Smith, Shetland Documents, 1195-1579 (Lerwick, 1999), pp. 251-269: Gordon Donaldson, Third of Benefices (Edinburgh: SHS, 1949), p. xl: James Kirk, Books of Assumption (Oxford, 1995), p. 655 fn. 2: Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, vol. 19 (Edinburgh, 1898), pp. 197, 251, 349. The fat goods were accounted in a local measure called a lipsund.Peter Anderson & John Ballantyne, Personal Correspondence of Sir John Bellenden of Auchnoull (Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 2023), p. 37.Jennifer Harland et al, "Produce from the Isles", Farmer's Trades and Markets (Sidestone, 2025), pp. 187–197 Sinclair's merchant network included William Mudie of Breckness, Chamberlain of Orkney, John Hart of the Canongate, and Andrew Lamb of Leith and Southtyre.John H. Ballantyne & Brian Smith, Shetland Documents, 1195-1579 (Lerwick, 1999), p. 111 no. 152: Gordon Donaldson, The Renaissance and Reformation in Scotland (Edinburgh, 1983), p. 158.
Olave Sinclair and David Scollay, a burgess of Kirkwall bought a proportion of the Orkney produce or "victual" of 1562 for £295 Scots.Michael Pearce, "Account of George Wishart of Drymme", Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, 17 (Edinburgh: SHS, 2025), p. 9. 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.'Pompae Deorum Rusticorum dona ferentium Jacobo VI & Mariae matri eius, Scotorum Regibus in coena que Regis baptisma est consecuta', in George Buchanan, Omnia Opera, vol. 2 (Leiden, 1725), p. 405
Sinclair was the proprietor of several farms.Brian Smith, 'Shetland, Scandinavia, Scotland', Grant G. Simpson, Scotland and Scandinavia, 800-1800 (John Donald, 1990), p. 31. He obtained the south house of Reawick in Sandsting by exchange in 1544. In July 1558, Scottish ships from Aberdeen, the Meikle Swallow and Little Swallow, attacked an English fleet. The Scottish sailors took cattle and other goods belonging to Sinclair on Mousa. Sinclair claimed compensation from the owner Thomas Nicholson in the Edinburgh courts.John H. Ballantyne & Brian Smith, Shetland Documents, 1195-1579 (Lerwick, 1999), pp. 49, no. 71, 92 no. 129.
Making accounts and issuing permits
Robert Stewart of Strathdon, a half-brother of Mary, Queen of Scots, who later became the Earl of Orkney was given the lands of Orkney and Shetland in 1565. William Murray of Tullibardine, the Comptroller, was appointed as foud. Sinclair continued in his role and was called the "foud depute".John H. Ballantyne & Brian Smith, Shetland Documents, 1195-1579 (Lerwick, 1999), p. 114 no. 156. In July 1567, the Privy Council of Scotland asked Sinclair, as a "receiver" of rents, to submit an account for the queen's income in previous years and come to Edinburgh to show it to the lords and auditors of the Scottish exchequer.John H. Ballantyne & Brian Smith, Shetland Documents, 1195-1579 (Lerwick, 1999), p. 121 no. 163: John Hill Burton, Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1877), p. 529.
Sinclair's receipts were recorded in the Exchequer Rolls prepared for Murray of Tullibardine as Comptroller. In 1566 he returned £1126 Scots and £330 worth of cereal. The fat goods and wadmell of 1566 were sold to an Edinburgh merchant Robert Watson. Sinclair was censured for not seding his accounts in time to the Privy Council in Edinburgh.John H. Ballantyne & Brian Smith, Shetland Documents, 1195–1579 (Lerwick, 1999), pp. 114–115 nos. 155, 156, 121 no. 163.
In 1567, Sinclair collected £1159.George Powell McNeill, Exchequer Rolls, vol. 19 (Edinburgh, 1898), pp. 333, 376. In subsequent years the Shetland rents were recorded as receipts from Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Orkney.George Powell McNeill, Exchequer Rolls, vol. 20 (Edinburgh, 1899), p. 339. The Foud owned or maintained a ship, in 1568 the skipper was Robert Boswall.Peter Anderson & John Ballantyne, Personal Correspondence of Sir John Bellenden of Auchnoull (Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 2023), p. 92.
Sinclair's official work included writing licences and testimonials in favour of Hanse merchant skippers like Johan Kordes of Bremen who was given a permit to use the haven of Baltasound in 1560. In August 1563, Sinclair wrote to the burgomaster and town council of Bremen about Kordes and his unlicensed competitors, who were exhausting the island resources.John H. Ballantyne & Brian Smith, Shetland Documents, 1195-1579 (Lerwick, 1999), pp. 80 no. 121, 104-5 no. 140.Bart Holterman, The Fish Lands: German trade with Iceland, Shetland and the Faroe Islands (Walter de Gruyter, 2020).HANSdoc Database, Bremen 2-R.11.kk, Bart Holterman, 2017 In September 1567, Sinclair prepared a testimonial for Gerdt Hemeling of Bremen whose ship and cargo of salted fish had been taken from his trading base at "Drosteness" (Dunrossness) by the Earl of Bothwell, who was briefly Duke of Orkney. Sinclair employed a legal clerk or writer called Peter Hog who was the scribe of his official documents and helped Sinclair add his signature with his "hand led on the quill". Hog was called the "Sheriff Clerk of Shetland". Sinclair's servant Henry Nauchty also wrote documents.John H. Ballantyne & Brian Smith, Shetland Documents, 1195-1579 (Lerwick, 1999), pp. 123-5 nos. 166, 167.
Bothwell and Sinclair
The Privy Council noted on 17 July 1567 that Olave Sinclair had received the rents and dues for 1566 but had not submitted an account or made a payment to the Queen's comptroller. He was ordered to come to Edinburgh.John Hill Burton, Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1887), p. 529.
A Scottish chronicle, the Diurnal of Occurrents mentions that Bothwell had dinner with Sinclair in Shetland in August 1567 after his flight from the battle of Carberry Hill.Diurnal of Occurrents (Edinburgh, 1833), p. 123 The English ambassador in Edinburgh, Nicholas Throckmorton, wrote that Sinclair, the "principal man of the Isle named Fogge", was a supporter of Bothwell, and would help Bothwell escape the pursuing force led by William Kirkcaldy of Grange and William Murray of Tullibardine.Robert Keith, The History Of the Affairs of Church and State In Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1734), pp. 458-9 citing British Library Cotton Caligula C/I f.48.