A-Rovin'

Written by: [Traditional]
Language: English
Comments: Collected as number 649 in the Roud Folksong Index, this is a sea shanty that was sung as a work song by sailors. Although bowdlerized in some versions, this is a bawdy song about a sailor who meets a woman, progressively fondles parts of her body, has sex with her and catches a disease, with the woman leaving him after his money is gone. Traditional songs with lyrics of a progressive seduction are relatively common place.

This song has been performed under several names. It appears that in the oldest versions of the song, the woman lived in Amsterdam, and the work has also been recorded several times as "Maid of Amsterdam". In other versions, the woman is from Plymouth.

The precise age of the song is unknown, but it is probably at least as old as 1867, with estimates of it dating to the 1500s having been made. Some have claimed that the shanty is derived from a 1607 or 1608 play by Thomas Heywood, "The Rape of Lucrece", although this contention seems to have been rejected by most musicologists who have researched the song.
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Originals