There are many songs in Scottish tradition (both Scots and Gaelic) which describe people as "black" or "red" meaning (usually) the colour of their hair. Burns's "Wantonness for evermair" uses the idea. Just over the border, the tune "Black Mary's Hole" from the Atkinson manuscript is rather unlikely to refer to anybody with African ancestry.

One of the more specific references to skin pigmentation in folk music is in George Skene's fiddle tunebook from the early 18th century - "The Black Part of the C--t" (dashes in the original).