Mary, Queen of Scots was paid an
annual feudal rent from the lands of Orkney in farm produce, including butter and fish oil. David Scollay bought some the produce collected, known as the "crop" and the "victual", and the rest was shipped to
Leith from Kirkwall. The money was used to fund the
household of Mary, Queen of Scots, paying for her wine and the wages of her servants like
David Rizzio and
Servais de Condé. Scollay acted as a collector of this revenue and also bought some of the produce for resale. In May 1562, David Scollay bought £305
Scots worth of the victual, and in June, with an administrator
Olave Sinclair, bought a further portion for £295 Scots. One of Scollay's payments was made by another merchant, John Irvine. Scollay also bought a quantity of Orkney
bere barley from the
Comptroller of Scotland,
John Wishart of Pitarrow. Scollay's agent for this latter payment was John Hart in the
Canongate. Hart and Scollay also bought dairy produce known as "fat goods" worth £408 Scots. == Servant of the Earl of Orkney ==