pall-mall

Catherine wanted to cover the alley in the garden where Henry played pall-mall, an early form of croquet.

Mr. Goldin asserted that "money was simply being thrown at projects in a helter-skelter, pall-mall, headlong rush."

The mother of Sir George was Jane, only daughter of William Atkinson, Esq. of Pall-mall.

Pall-mall was popular in Italy, France and Scotland, and spread to England and other parts of Western Europe in the 17th century.

'Why, he has sauntered into the Arts at a leisurely Pall-Mall pace,' said Doyce, 'and I doubt if they care to be taken quite so coolly.'

In his book entitled "The sports and pastimes of the people of England" Joseph Strutt describes the way pall-mall was played in England in 1611:

Related to Italian trucco (also known as lawn billiards or trucks in English) and similar games, pall-mall is an early modern development from jeu de mail, a French form of ground billiards.

Whilst the name pall-mall and various games bearing this name may have been played elsewhere (France and Italy) the description above suggests that the croquet games were certainly popular in England as early as 1601.