BERNARD, abbot of Arbroath in 1303, was the first chancellor of Robert the Bruce, after that monarch’s elevation to the throne in 1306. He is supposed to have composed that spirited remonstrance in favour of the country’s independence which, in 1318, was sent by the Scottish nobility and barons to the Roman pontiff, and which is so remarkable in the history of Scotland. He held the great seal till his death in 1327. Crawford supposes the abbot’s surname to have been Linton.