- Pall mall (game)
Pall mall (pronounced pal-mal) or palle maille was a game played in the 16th and 17th centuries, and a precursor to
croquet . The name comes from the Italian "pallamaglio", which literally means "mallet-ball". It was played in a longalley with an iron hoop suspended over the ground at the end. The object was to strike aboxwood ball of about 1 foot (30cm) incircumference (about the same size as a moderncroquet ball) with a heavy wooden mallet along the alley and through the hoop with the fewest hits possible.Pall mall was popular in
Italy ,France andScotland , and spread toEngland in the 17th century. The name "pall mall" refers not only to the game, but also to the mallet used and the alley in which it was played. Many cities still have long straight roads or promenades which evolved from the alleys in which the game was played. Such inLondon are Pall Mall and The Mall, inHamburg the Palmaille and in Utrecht (NL) theMaliebaan . When the game fell out of fashion, some of these pall malls evolved into shopping precincts, hence the modern name of shopping centres in theUSA :shopping mall sFact|date=February 2007; others evolved into grassed shady promenades, still called malls today.The game, and its gentler descendent
lawn billiards , is administered by theHampstead Lawn Billiard and Skittles Club , and it has recently been revived by theVillage CC , who have been asked to play it in the 2012 Olympics as ademonstration sport .
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