Chusteczka

The game I have an embroidered (or, in older versions, silk) handkerchief was very popular in schools and widely known throughout the country. It has many regional variants, differing in the words of the songs, the circle of participants, the name and the circumstances of performance. Most likely, the game originated from old wedding dances of a flirtatious nature, performed by bridesmaids and best men. In recent years Mam chusteczkę… has returned to weddings, becoming one of the games played by all the wedding party (in some regions only by bridesmaids and bachelors). Everywhere it has a form of a circle dance, in a moderate or slow tempo, metre 2/4 or 3/8, with the use of a handkerchief as a prop. Kissing is also an important element of this game. The name of the game is derived from the first words of the accompanying song: “I have an embroidered handkerchief…”, although, depending on the region, it may be called chusteczka, chusteczkowy, całowany, bośkany, fal falcon. A similar game (or youth dance) was also played by children in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Belarus, Austria, England, and the Balkans. The choreographic form was similar or the same, but often instead of a handkerchief a buttercup was thrown at the feet of a chosen person.

In the most popular form of this game in Poland the participants form a circle holding hands, in the middle of which stands a girl (usually) with a handkerchief in her hand. Dancers (or only dancers) circle against the sun or with the sun with a gait step, singing a song:

I have an embroidered handkerchief, which has four corners,

Whom I love, whom I like, I will throw under his feet.

This one I do not love, this one I do not like, this one I will not kiss,

And the embroidered handkerchief I’ll give to you.

In the meantime, the child in the middle walks in the direction opposite to the circle and, according to the words of the song, waves the handkerchief in the direction of selected children (points them with the handkerchief). At the last verse, he puts the handkerchief in front of the selected person (usually of the opposite sex if boys and girls participate in the game), they both kneel on it and kiss each other on the cheek. The chosen person swaps places with the “handkerchief person” (“handkerchief person”) and the game begins again. With each change of soloist, the circle also changes to the opposite direction. Sometimes, in some variants of this game, e.g. in the Wielkopolska region near Szamotuły, the girl who chooses a boy from the circle takes a handkerchief from under his feet at the last moment. The one who manages to kneel on the handkerchief gets a kiss and takes over the role of the “handkerchief man” in the further part of the game, and now he teases the chosen girl. The game usually ends when all participants have played the role of the “handkerchiefs”. After the game, all participants dance a waltz or oberek. The dance-play with a handkerchief in the Silesian Beskids is called boscany, from the dialect bosc – to kiss. The tempo of the dance is moderate and fast, meter 2/4. The participants form a circle, holding hands (closed procession), and circulate around a chosen dancer with a walk step, singing the song:

Ej wysijym, wysijym

Janićkowi kosiulym.

And that’s how they do it,

As long as he likes them.

When the dancer chooses a person from the circle, he or she spreads a handkerchief in front of the person in the middle of the circle, both kneel on it, and kiss each other on both cheeks. After the kiss, the couple performs several spins in place, after which the selected person remains in the center of the circle and the previous person joins the circle of dancers, taking his place. In most variations of this game or dance, it ends when all participants have played the role of the “handkerchiefs”.