Attributed to George Scroggie near Aberdeen in or around 1850, this song was popularized by Ewan MacColl and A.L. Lloyd. Lloyd credits the song to Scroggie in the liner notes for his album Leviathan, saying of it:

    The stereotype of the oldtime whalemen is a hairychested ring-tailed roarer, hard worker, hard drinker, hard fighter. No doubt the description fitted many of them; nevertheless they often showed a strong liking for gentle meditative songs. Perhaps alone among all the songs on this record, Farewell to Tarwathie was made not by a whaleman, but by a miller, George Scroggie of Federate, near Aberdeen, around the middle of the 19th century. The tune is an old favourite, best known in connection with the song called "Green Bushes".