Greig included it in his 'Folk Songs of the North East with this note:
"GO AND LEAVE ME IF YOU WISH IT
This song, judging from the numbers of requests one sees for it in the public prints, must be pretty popular throughout the country. We have got three local records of it. They vary a good deal, showing that the song has been traditional for a while, although it cannot be very old. We have a record of the tune got from an elderly lady in Buchan."

His comment about it being "not very old" make sense as the lack of characterisation and the somewhat sentimental feel appear to suggest it being Victorian.
It is quite popular in Ireland; we got a few versions from Travellers under the title 'Once I had a Fair Haired Lover', though most of these were very similar textually.
Probably the most popular version in Ireland is that sung in unison by The Keane Sisters of County Galway.
Jim Carroll