Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Cairncross, Robert
CAIRNCROSS, ROBERT (d. 1544) abbot of Holyrood, afterwards bishop of Ross, was descended from the ancient family of Balmashannar, Forfarshire, which had been seated there as early as the time of Robert II. He was provost of the collegiate church of Corstorphine, and one of the king's chaplains. On 5 Sept. 1528 he was nominated treasurer on the downfall of the Earl of Angus. Knowing that the abbot of Holyrood was on the point of death, he, according to Buchanan, wagered a large sum with James V that he would not present him to the first vacant benefice, when the king, quite well aware of what he referred to, accepted and won the wager. On suspicion of favouring the cause of the Douglases he lost the treasurership almost as soon as he obtained it, although he again held it from 1537 to 1539. On 23 June of the latter year he was admitted to the see of Ross, and shortly afterwards received in commendam the abbacy of Fern, the dilapidated state of which his wealth was expected to repair. On the death of the king he was appointed one of the lords of the council to the governor, the Earl of Arran, when he joined in opposing the treaty of peace with England. He died in April 1544. He is the subject of two epigrams by George Buchanan.
[Keith's Scottish Bishops, pp. 190-1; Crawford's Officers of State, pp. 371-3; Haig and Brunton's Senators of the College of Justice, pp. 45-6.]