It was written sometime before or during World War I and popularized in 1964 when Catherine McKinnon used it as the theme song for the Halifax-based CBC TV program, Singalong Jubilee.
The 1791 Scottish folk song "The Soldier's Adieu" was printed in 1803 in a Glasgow newspaper and attributed to Robert Tannahill.
[2][5] Folklorist Helen Creighton first collected the song in 1933 from Annie (Bayers) Greenough in West Petpeswick, Nova Scotia.
[2] The Quebec duo "Les Karrik" recorded a French version titled "La Chanson de l'Acadien" in 1971.
[9] The song has been covered, notably, by Tommy Makem,[10] Gordon Lightfoot, Stan Rogers, The Irish Rovers, Ryan's Fancy, Harry Hibbs, Paddy Reilly, Ian and Sylvia Tyson, Anne Murray, Touchstone, Stompin' Tom Connors,[11] The Real McKenzies, Schooner Fare, Wicked Tinkers, Battlefield Band, Alex Beaton, Aselin Debison, Dan Zanes, Moist, Oisin, Sons of Maxwell, Na h-Òganaich, and Asonance.
Chorus: Farewell[n 1] to Nova Scotia, the sea-bound coast,[n 2] let your mountains dark and dreary[n 3] be.