Hi Falkyrn. Sorry I've taken so long to reply but I wasn't getting notifications of replies to my posts. Anyway.......
In Scotland, a Farm Servant is just that, someone (mainly female) who reports to the wife of the Tenant Farmer or the Farmer and could be a general helper around the farm or in the house and kitchen itself. A Farm Labourer was someone who had a recognised skilled trade. These were mainly ploughmen, where there was a strict hierarchy according to rank and experience (number dependent on size of farm, obviously) or a cattleman or shepherd, who looked after the beasts. They reported to the Grieve/Foreman who reported to the Farmer. During the Agricultural Revolution (1770-1810) when rotational crop cultivation was introduced, there was a much higher demand for skilled ploughmen to work the new 'heavy horses' - Clydesdales. This mainly began in the Angus/Perthshire area (NE Scotland) and spread. The Ag Labs 'fee-ed' for 6 months or a year and moved around a lot, so it's difficult to keep tabs on them. You will find children born all over the place. They basically had to work until they died and ploughmen would often become cattlemen later in life as this was not such an arduous job.
Originally, they ate in the farm kitchen with the farmer, however, towards the end of the C18th the farmer moved them out and they lived in bothies which were basic dormatory cottages - all male. Again, this begun in NE Scotland and spread. There was no married accommodation provided so the men were discouraged from marrying. The workers were confined to the farm so, as I have found, children were often born of unmarried workers on the farm. Even the girls with these children were discouraged from marrying by their parents, as they were dependent on their wages which, if they married, would go to their husband. Apparently, after the 1841 census, the kirk (church) was appalled with the number of illegt births to farm workers/ag labs and more married accommodation was provided. However, they still moved around a lot so, again, it's difficult to keep tabs on them. They lived in small cottages on the farm - Cotter Houses.
I always believed people didn't travel much in those days but have found my lot moved from Aberdeenshire across the mountains to Angus, then Perthshire and back to Angus again. Mine were mostly ploughmen. I have managed to get back to an illegt son born on a farm in Angus in 1797, I believe of a ploughman and female farm worker, however, they don't appear to have married and the father then disappears off the face of the earth. I have one theory he was conscripted into the army for the Napoleonic Wars. The son, also a ploughman, was told off by the kirk for 'antinuptial fornication' probably resulting in a child, in 1825 and I can't find a reference to a marriage, although they appear to be husband and wife when they died.
Interestingly, although it was a hard life, I have found the Ag Labs living to ripe old ages (70s, 80s) which was not too common in C18th and C19th so obviously it was a healthier life than my ancestors who lived in the town and worked in the mills, and who died quite young, as did their children.
Hope this gives you a wee bit more info. Good luck with your research.
Lesley
