Clement Scotus II arrived, according to tradition, from Ireland on the coast of Gaul, with another Irish scholar, around the time when Charlemagne began his sole rule (i.e. after the death of Carloman in 771).
The account of Clement's appearance in the Frankish realm rests solely upon the authority of the monk of St. Gall, who wrote towards the end of the ninth century, and whose narrative contains an element of fable.
Clement was, then or later, resident at the Frankish court; there is a poem by him addressed to Lothar as emperor (i.e. after 817), from which it appears that Lothar was his pupil; and another poem, by Ermoldus Nigellus, describes Clement as active in the festivities at Ingelheim on the occasion of the baptism of the Danish king Harald in 826.
The year of Clement's death is not known, but the day is given as 29 March in a necrology preserved in a Würzburg manuscript of the ninth century.
Two grammatical works exist in manuscript bearing Clement's name; one is an 'Ars Grammatica' (also described as 'De Partibus Orationis'), the other, which is possibly only a part of the same, 'De Barbarismo.'