Page 124 - Greystones Archaeological Historical Society

CÚL OF THE ROCK

youth, and below him, three young people are tending a half-skiff
with four rowing thwarts that is just afloat alongside the long grey
rock. One of them, a girl, is at the water’s edge. A boy, paddling
in the water, holds onto the breast hook at the bow. The third, a
youth, holds a sculling oar that is cupped atop a small transom
at the stern. All in all, it is a peaceful scene. The photograph is
clearly identified ‘At Greystones, 3299.W.L.’

The activity that all the photos revolve around is featured in
the lower of two photos on page 105 of the same 1993 book: a
two-masted topsail schooner is discharging coal at the nose of
the jetty (see below). The ashlar blocks used in the construction
of the jetty and the back wall of the pier are very distinct, as are
three horse-drawn drays. One cart is just being loaded while the
other two await their turn to pull in under the sheerlegs. It is just
about midday or slightly before; there is a faint shadow on the
near portion of the back wall on the side facing the shore. And it
is summer time; the areas of light and shadow suggest the sun
is high. Neither pier nor north groyne have yet been built. It is
pre-1884.

Derek Paine’s postcard of the schooner discharging to three
drays, however, is a Lawrence image that may be unique to
Derek. It does not exist in the Lawrence Collection, or if it does,
I have not been able to find it. He dates it to 1870, but I feel in
this he is mistaken because it is clearly an integral part of the
sequence I have identified.

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