Origin of phrase: "Scott-free"

[Jinx]

Does this phrase refer to some specific, famous guy named Scott who got away with something? What is the origin of this phrase?

• Jinx

[everton]

From here

The expression derives from a medieval municipal tax levied in proportional shares on inhabitants, often for poor relief. This was called a scot, as an abbreviation of the full term scot and lot, where scot was the sum to be paid and lot was one’s allotted share.

If you didn’t have to pay the tax, you got off scot free.

[pravnik]

Scot is the archaic word for “tax”, from Middle English. If you get off “scot-free”, you are untaxed and unhurt. You don’t have to pay what you were due.

[pravnik]

Well, poop.

[samclem]

The OED cites the phrase back to 1538. As others have said, the word scot for tax goes back to the 1200’s or earlier.

[Sublight]

Darn, too late. And I knew this one, too.

Got into a big argument once over this with a friend who was convinced it started as a slur against Scottish people based on their stereotype of stinginess.