  We consider light pulses in a circular array of $2N$ coupled nonlinear
optical waveguides. The waveguides are either hermitian or alternate gain and
loss in a $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric fashion. Simple patterns in the array
include a ring of $2N$ pulses travelling abreast, and a breather -- a string of
pulses where all even and all odd waveguides flash in turn. In addition, the
structure displays solitons gyrating around the necklace by switching from one
waveguide to the next. Some of the gyrating solitons are stable while other
ones are weakly unstable and evolve into gyrating multiflash strings. By tuning
the gain-loss coefficient, the gyration of solitons in a nonhermitian array may
be reversed without changing the direction of their translational motion.
