A ring is formed by the players joining hands, whilst one child, who
is to "drop the handkerchief," is left outside. He walks round the
ring, touching each one with the handkerchief, saying the following
words:
[Illustration]
"I wrote a letter to my love,
But on my way, I dropped it;
A little child picked it up
And put it in his pocket.
It wasn't you, it wasn't you,
It wasn't you--but it was you."
When he says "It was you," he must drop the handkerchief behind one
of the players, who picks it up and chases him round the ring,
outside and under the joined hands, until he can touch him with the
handkerchief. As soon as this happens, the first player joins
the ring, whilst it is now the turn of the second to "drop the
handkerchief."
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