Lady Queen Anne.
A very pretty version of this old English game is often played at juvenile parties in Cornwall.
One child is chosen to remain in the room, whilst the others go outside and consult together as to whom shall hold the ball (some small thing). They then troop in, with their hands either hidden under the skirts of their dresses, or clasped in such a way that Lady Queen Anne, by looking at them, cannot tell which has it; all repeating—
“Here come we to Lady Queen Anne,
With a pair of white gloves to cover our hand;
As white as a lily, as fair as the rose,
But not so fair as you may suppose.”
L. Q. A. “Turn, ladies, turn!”
(Whirl round.) “The more we turn the more we may,
Queen Anne was born on Midsummer day.”