Linklater was born to Scottish international rugby player and future Unionist Party MP Ian MacIntyre and his first wife Ida Van der Gucht on 19 March 1909 at 19 Northumberland Street, Edinburgh.
[4] Linklater helped to found a secondary school in the Gaelic-speaking fishing village of Plockton, meaning children did not need to travel long distances for their education.
[2][4] She followed up by contesting plans to dump nuclear waste at sea,[5] and later successfully convinced the oil industry to fund a qualified resident archaeologist who supervised Orkney's rich prehistoric heritage full-time.
[6] In the 1970s, she joined the Scottish National Party (SNP), becoming the Orkney and Shetland's branch chairman and was the agent for Winnie Ewing, the MEP for the Highlands and Islands.
[6] She worked with Laura Grimond to restore the 8th-century St Boniface Kirk,[5] was a founding trustee and chairperson of the Pier Arts Centre and was a founder member of the Orkney Folk Festival.
[3][7] The award is presented to senior school pupils in the fifth or sixth year of education and to similarly aged students at Orkney College "for a short piece of creative writing" with judges including members of the Linklater family.