Andrew Meikle (1719-1811), Scottish millwright. Meikle worked for most of his life at Houston Mill, near Dunbar, Scotland. There he worked on designs for an automated threshing machine which would remove the husks from harvested grain. Despite the failure of his two early designs, Meikle persevered and eventually came up with a reliable solution. Patented in 1788, his machine used two beaters and a strong drum to remove grain husks. Meikle also invented a method of rapidly furling the sails of a windmill to prevent storm damage.