Tracing an ancestor to Scotland?

Question:

Tracing an ancestor to Scotland?

The first known maternal ancestor I have is a David McCoy (or McKeay) who was born in Scotland in 1744; and the immigrated to this country. Can anyone tell me how to go about tracing that birth, if there is a way? Thank you.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Your first step is to evaluate your source for the date you give for his birth. Is that based on what someone else has entered in their database, or an original record of some sort? Cross check as many places as possible (ie rootsweb has family files as well as ancestry) to see if someone else has found what they believe to be the answer. NOT ALL ONLINE INFO IS ACCURATE.
Here is where I think the internet has blown research wide open.. you CAN contact and talk with other researchers, even in Scotland, as easy as someone here. My favorite place to find topical or locality resources is www.cyndislist.com
There will be a whole slew of links for doing research in Scotland. You might even find the pot of gold... a distant cousin still living right there, who has already found your David, and has him noted as "left for America". Start saving up for a vacation... many people have done just that.
You also can order microfilms of millions of worldwide records (ie church registers, so forth) from the LDS church. These are, of course, for those who really want the answer, and realize that it isn't all online.