Mill Field Ploughing image.

Another feature of local winter and spring scene in those days was the carts drawing woar, as seaweed was called (incidentally this is a corruptoin of a Norman French word voar).

It was quite usual for carts from Rush to go through the dark streets at six on winter mornings to start working at daylight and they would return loaded six hours or so later. There would be up to 15 or 20 horses and carts sometimes. With two men to each cart, there was about six hours available to cut the loads. As the woar or seaweed was only cuttable, sizewise, from about the half tide mark, there was just the six hour spell as the tide ebbed and flowed between half tide - low water and back.

There were and still are well defined cart tracks through all the rocky shore between Skerries and Balbriggan and it was amazing how sure footed horses were in drawing carts through them.

They had of course to be driven with reins from the cart as it was not possible for a man to walk and lead them. The woar was cut by a sickle shaped knife specially made by the local blacksmith, perferably from an old file. Full loads could not be brought through the rocks, only part loads known as bankers and four bankers made a good load. As well as woar cut from the rocks known as cut woar there was also woar washed in after storms - wrack woar.