Aunt Sally is a traditional English game usually played in pub gardens and fairgrounds, in which players throw sticks or battens at a ball, known as a 'dolly', balanced on top of a stick; traditionally, a model of an old woman's head was sometimes used. Leagues of pub teams still play the game, throughout the spring and summer months, mainly in Oxfordshire and some bordering counties. In France, the game is called jeu de massacre.
A game of "Aunt Sally". Drawing from the 1911 edition of Whiteley's General Catalogue.
A pub is a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in the late 17th century, to differentiate private houses from those open to the public as alehouses, taverns and inns. Today, there is no strict definition, but CAMRA states a pub has four characteristics:is open to the public without membership or residency
serves draught beer or cider without requiring food be consumed
has at least one indoor area not laid out for meals
allows drinks to be bought at a bar
A thatched country pub, the Williams Arms, near Braunton, Devon, England
A city pub, the World's End, Camden Town, London
The Ale-House Door (painting of c. 1790 by Henry Singleton)
Ye Olde Fighting Cocks in St Albans, Hertfordshire, which once held the Guinness World Record for the oldest pub in England