Jim Carroll is doubting the significance of pubs as the places to sing, traditionally. Well, he is vastly experienced in these matters, but maybe in different places from those4 I know. I can confirm that in the far northwest of England(north Lancs/Cumbria I suppose), pubs were places where traditional(non-revival) singing flourished. Maybe not the only places, maybe not the main places, but certainly important places. And, apropos of other discussions here: it was pretty obvious in most cases who were trad and who were revival at the time I am talking about(60/70's)