Fortune-Telling by Cherry-Stones or Apple Seeds…

One, I Love; Two, I Love - English Children's Songs - England - Mama Lisa's World: Children's Songs and Rhymes from Around the World - Intro Image

Notes

A slightly longer version, used with apple seeds...

"This rhyme, formerly used in England, remains unchanged, except the omission of the last three lines. Apples were an essential part of every entertainment in the country. The apple, having been properly named for a person, with a pressure of the finger, was divided, to decide the fate of the person concerned according to its number of seeds."

One, I love,
Two, I love,
Three, I love, I say,
Four, I love with all my heart,
And five, I cast away;
Six, he loves,
Seven, she loves,
Eight, they both love;
Nine, he comes,
Ten, he tarries,
Eleven, he courts,
Twelve, he marries;
Thirteen, wishes,
Fourteen, kisses,
All the rest little witches.

One, I Love; Two, I Love - English Children's Songs - England - Mama Lisa's World: Children's Songs and Rhymes from Around the World - Comment After Song Image

Thanks and Acknowledgements

This nursery rhyme and illustration can be found in The Big Book of Nursery Rhymes (circa 1920) edited by Walter Jerrold (1865 - 1929) and illustrated by Charles Robinson (with some graphical editing of the above image by Lisa Yannucci).