Another variant of the rhyme sung is:
"I dropped it, I dropped it,
I dree, I dree, I dropped it,
I sent a letter to my love
And by the way I dropped it.
Look up to the sky and bend yer eye
And see where I have dropped it."
During which the one with the handkerchief lets it fall behind one of the circle, the finish of the rhyme being the signal for the others to look behind them, and the one at whose back it is then pursues the dropper, as described above. If she fails to follow, the others shout, "Ye're Burnt," when she goes back to her place in the circle and the napkin dropper starts again.
(P. 216, after third line from bottom.)
In Uist they have the following two additional lines :
"The drum shall beat, and the fiddle shall play,
King Henry, king Henry, run boys run."
Polly in the Ring.
A den is formed in which two of the girl players stand, the others, standing in a line, face the den sufficiently far away that it will make a good race to reach it. The two fix on a number between one and twenty. The numbers up to nine are called "singles," the others "doubles." They then approach the line, and are asked "single or double?" One having answered this question, she points to the girls in the row in what order she chooses, and each must guess the number agreed on. The moment the right answer is given, the pair start for the den, pursued by the one who has answered correctly. Of the three, the first to reach the den takes her place in the line, and the other two agree on a new number for the next race.
Time
As played by boys in the neighbourhood of Oban, is much the same as "Polly in the Ring." Any convenient number
