kiss-in-the-ring
An open-air game played by young people of both sexes, who stand in a ring with hands joined, except one who runs round outside the ring and touches (or drops a handkerchief behind) one of the opposite sex, who thereupon leaves the ring and runs after the first, kissing him or her when caught.
| 1801 J. Strutt Sports & Pastimes iv. iv. 285 A boy must touch a girl, and a girl a boy, and when either of them be caught they go into the middle of the ring and salute each other; hence is derived the name of kiss in the ring. 1825 Hone Every-day Bk. I. 691 There were several parties playing at ‘Kiss in the ring’. 1862 Guardian 23 Apr. 386/2 Kiss-in-the-ring once so popular at Sydenham was decidedly at a discount. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 10 Aug. 8/2 A peculiar custom on Hampstead Heath for the week following Bank Holiday is the playing of kiss-in-the-ring on a large scale on a special part of the West Heath. 1925 W. de la Mare Broomsticks 26 There were quantities of things to eat and lots to see, and Kiss-in-the-Ring. 1936 ‘R. Crompton’ Sweet William vii. 171 The games were to be Kiss in the Ring, Postman's Knock, Turn the Trencher,..and others of similar kind. 1957 J. Masters Far, Far the Mountain Peak i. 5 Why don't I suggest a game of ring-a-ring-a-roses or kiss-in-the-ring? 1969 I. & P. Opie Children's Games vi. 201 Throughout the nineteenth century ‘Kiss in the Ring’ was a favourite game at Christmas time and midsummer. |