Rope in Transom

[Hoover]

I am putting a new transom in a 23 c Hawk(Thanks Strick for your post) anyway, when I was cutting away old mulch I found that each corner of the transom had two pieces of 3/8 inch rope glassed in from top of transom to bottom of the hull. Is this normal, or has someone done this before? I found some seacast or hardened epoxy built up around top of transom on one side so I am not sure. By the way my project is going great and I officially have the bug on boat rebuilding thanks to many of you.