Amsterdam Maid, The (1937)

Traditional
O: Charles Joseph Finger (Alan Lomax recording)

I found a recording from Richard Maitland, also an Alan Lomax recording, but from may 1939.

 You can find the recording of Maitland on this album:

I searched for the origin of"The Amsterdam Maid" but it's difficult to say.

Some people think  the song "The Amsterdam Maid" comes from Thomas Heywood's The Tragedy of the Rape of Lucrece (1608). But others say it does'nt.

The song is inspired by other songs like "The Jolly Beggar" and "Go no more a roving" but  only a few lines.

Some people think the song is from the 1800's. Maybe sometime the origin will be found.

Here some things i found on the net:

At Folklorist:

“A-Rovin'”

Author: unknown

Earliest date: 1917

Keywords:bawdy, disease, sailor, warning, whore

Found in: Britain(England) US(MA,NE,So,SW) Australia

Description

In this cautionary tale, a sailor meets an Amsterdam maid, fondles portions of her body progressively, has sex with her, and catches the pox. She leaves him after he has spent all his money.

Notes

This is a partial formula song in that the sailor begins at the knee, moves up to the thigh, and then to the "snatch." See "Yo Ho, Yo Ho" ("I Put My Hand") for extended treatment of this formula. - EC

Some similar lines are found in Thomas Heywood's "The Rape of Lucrece" (c. 1607), and Shay traces this piece back to that time, but Doerflinger states that they are not the same song.

The version collected by Meredith from Wally Marshall has an unusual ending; when the singer places his hand upon the girl's breast, she breaks wind, seemingly causing him to abandon the venture. - RBW

At chivalry.com:

Background notes

"A-Rovin" is a capstan sea shanty, and according to Hugill (in Shanties of the Seven Seas) is often sung too fast by modern singers. When sung as a capstan shanty, the words "A-rovin, a-rovin" were timed to fit the downward movement of a four-foot-diameter pumpwheel. This song appears to be fairly old, possibly Elizabethan. Versions have been found in Dutch, Flemish and French as well as English.

The chorus was very often sung as either "I'll" or "We'll" -- we'll seems to be more like the original, as capstan work was usually done by more than one man. Other alternative words are "roamin'" for "rovin", "false maid" for "fair maid", and "overt'row" or "downfall" for "ruin."

Some recordings: 

1939-may - A-roving - Richard Maitland
1942 - A-Roving - Stanley Slade
1943 - Amsterdam Maid - Priority Ramblers
1949 - A Roving Maid of Amsterdam - Alfred Newman
1952 - A-Roving - Harry Belafonte
1956 - Maid Of Amsterdam (1956) - Paul Clayton
1957-1958 - The Amsterdam Maid (I'll Go No More a Roving) - Ewan Maccoll
1958 - Plymouth Town - Oscar Brand
1961 - With You Fair Maid - Brothers Four
1978 - The maid from Amsterdam - King's Galliard
1996 - Amsterdam Maid - Priority Ramblers
1996 - Maid Of Amsterdam - The Corries
2007 - Maid Of Amsterdam - Whiskey Bards
2013 - Maid Of Amsterdam - Nils Brown







You can get them is you really want