[1] In this version of the game, as described by the British folklorist Alice Gomme in 1894, the picker touches the shoulder of each person in the ring with a handkerchief saying "not you", "not you", until the picker reaches the desired chaser, places the handkerchief on the person's shoulder, and says "but you".

Gomme describes various regional variations: in Shropshire, the two players run in opposite directions and compete to be first to reach the starting point; around London, the chase weaves in and out under the clasped hands of the other people in the ring.

[2] Gomme suggests that "'Kiss in the Ring' is probably a relic of the earliest form of marriage by choice or selection.

The custom of dropping or sending a glove as a signal of a challenge may have been succeeded by the handkerchief in this game.

"[2] A variation described in the 1919 book, Entertaining Made Easy by Emily Rose Burt, has children standing in a circle, joining hands.

One player who is "it" goes around the circle with a container of water and "drips" a small amount on each person's head.