"Scot free" has nothing to do with Scottish people at all. Scot is derived from the Old English Norse word for "a tax. " Scot and lot was a medieval muncipal tax levied often for poor relief on residents so who managed to avoid paying this medieval tax got off "scot free. "
The term scot free has nothing to do with the Scottish. Instead it origniates with the English. "Scot" evolved from the term "sceot" an old english word for tax. Those who avoided paying this tax were said to get off "sceot-free". Over time this came to known as "scot-free".
