My grandfather used to laugh when he said we were Scots-Irish (or maybe that was "Scott"s-Irish). I used to think he was trying to make a joke (a pun based on our family name and the fact that his mother was originally from Ireland - County Antrim). Looking back 30+ years later, I'm not so sure. Maybe he was being serious and just laughed off any further inquiries to avoid embarrassment. (I have since found out why he obscured some things and didn't encourage my father and my aunt to ask a lot of questions about their lineage.)

Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to be able to hire anyone to untangle the web my cousin hit when he was doing research on the Scott line. There are few surviving records for the Clinch River valley of SW Virginia from the mid to late 1700's that indicate place of origin of the settlers, their ancestry, nor even if they were related to one another. (There are at least three Scott families I'm aware of from the records available online, but there's no readily apparent relationship between them, nor from whence they came).

Best of luck unraveling your threads, Pat!