"A-Roving", also known as "The Maid of Amsterdam" is a traditional sea shanty used at pumps and windlasses. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 649. Its origin is sometimes given as Thomas Heywood's play The Rape of Lucrece, published 1608 and first performed around 1630 although this is debated. The song may date to the Elizabethan or Jacobean era and shorter versions have been found in Great Britain, Denmark, and France. A short, cleaned-up version was printed in The Burl Ives Song Book. There have been a number of recordings by folk singers (like Burl Ives and Paul Clayton). Some classical groups (like the Robert Shaw Chorale) have also performed it, either using sanitized versions or ignoring the story line that the sailor has an encounter with a thieving prostitute and probably got syphilis from her ("Since rovin's been my ru-i-n ...").