114 RENNIE'S MASTER ANDREW MEIKLE. PART VII. 



In the course of twenty years from the date of the 

 patent, about three hundred and fifty thrashing-mills 

 were erected in East Lothian alone, at an estimated outlay 

 of nearly forty thousand pounds ; and, shortly after, it 

 became generally adopted in England, and indeed all 

 over the civilized world. We regret, however, to add, 

 that Meikle did not reap those pecuniary advantages from 

 his invention which a less modest and more pushing man 

 would have done. Pirates fell upon him on all sides and 

 deprived him of the fruits of his ingenuity, even denying 

 him any originality whatever. When growing old and 

 infirm, Sir John Sinclair bestirred himself to raise a sub- 

 scription in his behalf; and a sum of 1500/. was collected, 

 which was invested for his benefit. Mr. Dempster, M.P., 

 wrote to Sir John, when on his charitable mission in 

 1809, " Should your tour in East Lothian procure a 

 suitable reward to the inventor of the thrashing-machine, 

 it will redound much to your and the country's honour : 

 our heathen ancestors would have assigned a place in 

 heaven to Meikle." Mr. Smeaton knew Meikle inti- 

 mately, and frequently met him in consultation respecting 

 the arrangements of the Dairy Mills, near Edinburgh, 

 and other works ; and he was accustomed to say of him, 

 that if he had possessed but one-half the address of other 

 people, he would have rivalled all his contemporaries, 

 and stood forth as one of the first mechanical engineers 

 in the kingdom. 



Among the various improvements which this ingenious 

 mechanic introduced in mill-work, were those in the sails 

 of windmills. Before his time, these machines were 

 liable to serious accidents on the occurrence of a sudden 

 gale, or a shift in the direction of the wind. By Meikle's 

 contrivance, the machinery was so arranged that the 

 whole sails might be taken in or let out in half a minute, 

 according as the wind required, by a person merely 



1 ' Memoirs of Sir John Sinclair,' vol. ii., p. 90. 



