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Tag: hay

Gathering Salt Marsh Hay

August 3, 2026August 29, 2026 Gordon Harris2 Comments

Salt marsh hay is still gathered on the North Shore today. The grass was stacked on staddles to raise it above the high tides, and was hauled away on sleds over the frozen marsh in mid-winter.

Posted in Places, Stories, VideoTagged hay, Newbury, Plum Island, salt hay, salt marsh

Adrift on a Haystack, December 1786

December 19, 2023December 31, 2024 Gordon Harris2 Comments

In a northeasterly storm in December, 1786 Samuel Pulsifer and Samuel Elwell of Rowley were digging clams on Plum Island, got caught in the storm, and took refuge in a stack of salt hay for the night. In the morning they found they had been set afloat.

Posted in Legends, Stories, StormsTagged 1786, Clams, December, hay, Plum Island, Rowley, storm
Ipswich MA historic photos by William Varrel

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