The Maid of Amsterdam, also called A-Rovin' is a traditional sea shanty. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 649. The song dates to the Elizabethan era.
Its origin is sometimes given as Thomas Heywood's 1636 play The Rape of Lucrece, probably based on the opinion of John Masefield in his 1908 article "Sea-Songs" [1]. The song referenced by Masefield is probably the one beginning "Did he take fair Lucrece by the toe man? —Toe man. —I man. —Ha, ha, ha, ha man," though the relationship between Heywood's song and "The Maid of Amsterdam" is debated.
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.
This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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