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KISS IN THE RING |
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kerchief as she passes, she says, " Not you," " not you," " not you," &c, &c, till the favoured individual is reached, when it is changed to " But you! " and his or her shoulder lightly touched at the same time. The first player then runs round the ring as fast as he can, pursued by the other, who, if a capture is effected (as is nearly always the case), is entitled to lead the first player back into the centre of the ring and claim a kiss. The first player then takes the other's place in the ring, and in turn walks round the outside repeating the same formula.—Folk-lore Journal, vii. 212; Penzance (Mrs. Mabbott).
In Shropshire, as soon as the player going round the ring has dropped the handkerchief on the shoulder of the girl he chooses, both players run opposite ways outside the ring, each trying to be the first to regain the starting-point. If the one who was chosen gets there first, no kiss can be claimed. It is often called " Drop-handkerchief," from the signal for the chase. The more general way of playing (either with or without words), as seen by me on village greens round London, is, when the handkerchief has been dropped, for the player to dart through the ring and in and out again under the clasped hands; the pursuer must follow in and out through the same places, and must bring the one he catches into the ring before he can legally claim the kiss.
Elworthy ( West Country Words), in describing this game, says : " The person behind whom the handkerchief is dropped is entitled to kiss the person who dropped it, if he or she can catch him or her, before the person can get round the ring to the vacant place. Of course, when a girl drops it she selects a favoured swain, and the chase is severe up to a point, but when a girl is the pursuer there often is a kind of donkey race lest she should have to give the kiss which the lad takes no pains to avoid." Mr. Elworthy does not mention any words being used, and it is therefore probable that this is the " Drop-handkerchief" game, which generally has no kissing. It also, in the way it is played, resembles " French Jackie." In the Wolstanton game, Miss Keary says: " If the owner of the handkerchief overtakes the one who is bitten as they run round, |
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