I looked up the etymology because I had not idea as to its origin. The "Rover Boys" presumably liked to be constantly on the move, though with no particular destination in mind,just looking for adventure. But no piratical motives, as suggested by last line of definition and etymology.

rover1 ['rəʊvə]
noun
1 a person who roves; wanderer

2 (Archery) a mark selected at random for use as a target

3 (Croquet) a ball that has been driven through all the hoops but has not yet hit the winning peg

4 (Australian Rules football) one of the three players in the ruck, usually smaller than the other two, selected for his agility in play
[ETYMOLOGY: 15th Century: from rove1]


rover2 ['rəʊvə]
noun a pirate or pirate ship
[ETYMOLOGY: 14th Century: probably from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German, from roven to rob]

players in the ruck,
What's a ruck?

What's a ruck?

hey, Scooby-Doo!

ruck1 [rʌk]
noun
1 a large number or quantity; mass, esp. of ordinary or undistinguished people or things

2 (in a race) a group of competitors who are well behind the leaders at the finish

3 (Rugby) a loose scrum that forms around the ball when it is on the ground

4 (Australian Rules football) the three players, two ruckmen and a rover, that do not have fixed positions but follow the ball closely
verb
5 [intransitive]
(Rugby) to try to win the ball by mauling and scrummaging
[ETYMOLOGY: C13 (meaning ``heap of firewood''): perhaps from Scandinavian; compare Old Norse hraukr rick1]


ruck2 [rʌk]
noun
1 a wrinkle, crease, or fold
verb
2 [usually foll by up] to become or make wrinkled, creased, or puckered
[ETYMOLOGY: 18th Century: from Scandinavian; related to Old Norse hrukka]


ruck3 [rʌk]
noun (prison slang)
a fight
[ETYMOLOGY: 20th Century: short for ruckus]

Thanks, Dr. Bill, although these bring up more thoughts. I was pleased to see that Gurunet says scrummage (man, that sounds SO odd! [poking the borax e]) is an Alteration of SCRIMMAGE. I don't think we ever say scrim. But at least I now know that ruckmen follow the ball, though I am no closer to knowing the origin of the word.

ruck - rick
scrum - scrim...

though looking up scrim brings up the theatre curtain def. this site has a ton of info:
http://poets.notredame.ac.jp/cgi-bin/wn?cmd=wn&word=scrim