On the surface, would appear to be the first Scotsman ever (7)
I believe the answer is:
macadam
'on the surface would appear' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'be the first scotsman ever' is the wordplay.
'be' becomes 'am'.
'the first' says to put letters next to each other.
'scotsman' becomes 'mac'.
'ever' becomes 'ad' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'mac'+'ad'='macad'
'am' put after 'macad' is 'MACADAM'.
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for macadam that I've seen before include "Road surfacing material" , "Name associated with road surfaces" , "(Inventor of) road surface" , "Broken stones" , "Tarmac" .)