I am sure that the line about the "Maid of Scalleter" was mis-heard by Child, and perpetuated by everyone who came after. "In came the Maid of Scalleter/ with a gown and shirt alone" (to render it in standard English) is a poor line in an otherwise splendid piece. Why should we care about the birthplace of the chambermaid? Does it add anything to the story to know that she came from a little farmstead 10 or 20 miles away? Why is it necessary to say she came on her own? Would it matter if a whole chorus-line of maids trooped in? The line is a dud and detracts from the momentum of the narrative.

Scots and border ballads tend to have lyrics which are direct and succinct, with little or nothing in the way of extraneous or even descriptive matter. I believe the line should be :-

"In came the maid to scallet her/ with a gown and shirt of lawn."

"To scallet" is a Lallands verb with the primary meaning of "to divide" and the secondary derivative sense of "to comb hair". The maid came in, possibly alone, but certainly with a shirt "of lawn", which is fine linen. So :- The maid came in, bringing with her a gown and shirt of fine linen. She has come to get Eppie ready for the bridal breakfast with her new in-laws.

There is some difficulty as well with the line "If ye had ta'en her maidenhead she would have hired your hand." I beleieve MacColl sang "would have hired your horn", which makes sense. "If you had had sex with her, she would have paid you for the pleasure".