I tend not to like the long Scots versions of ballads, with the exception of things that really need their stories told in excruciating detail, like Tam Lin for example. First, to me many of these versions seem unsingable, not because they're long but because they're so many things cobbled together, and second because many of them are transcribed in Scots dialect, and being American and Southern, I don't have any desire or ability to sing in lowlands. I like to sing things in a way that feels natural to my voice, I guess, and long ballads in Scots dialect ain't it. ;)