Anyone serious about interpreting Child 65 should have Child's headnotes as first port of call. Whilst the ballad is not directly related to one European/Scandinavian ballad it has similarities with several, particularly regarding the transgression and the repercussions. Whoever wrote it was very likely using knowledge of one or more of these continental ballads/tales. Therefore not particularly related to Scottish history exclusively.

Generally speaking the majority of Child Ballads have equivalents abroad, some loosely based on existing plots, some direct translations. I know of no cases where a British Child Ballad has gone in the other direction unless there are some that were translated very early like those of Herder, Goethe and Schiller.

(One rider here is The Cruel Mother that was translated by Grundtvig in 1840 and 2 versions were later collected in Denmark, derived from this, in the late 19th century.)