General   (General discussion, talk about anything.)

It's a term from the docks. In the days when labour was picked for a days work by gangers, nepotism and cronyism was rife. If you were from outside the immediate area of the dock you would stand little chance of any work at all. Only when ships came in carrying hides of various beast were the outside lads given a chance as the regular dockers didn't want the dirty and smelly job of unloading stinking hides. Thus anyone from outside the immediate area of the dock was classed as a woolly back. Even if they came from Liverpool.