Is this from Dickens? In his day the passive continuous doesn't seem to have been securely established (of course I can't think of any examples) and the active used instead.
So 'the hay was carrying' = 'the hay was being carried'.
I vaguely remember seeing 'the house was building' being used for 'the house was being built' in early 20th century books.



Bingley


Bingley