In 1784 Scottish millwright and inventor Andrew Meikle invented the threshing machine, probably drawing inspiration from a design Michael Menzies had patented fifty years earlier. Once grain plants are harvested it is necessary to separate the grain from the plant. After a failed first attempt in 1778 Meikle built a machine that could complete this process in a fraction of the time that had previously been required. As the machines slowly spread across Britain, they were greeted with a wave of hostility from discontented villagers. Threshing had previously offered an opportunity for laborers to supplement their income during the winter period, and their livelihood was now under threat. Understandably, they revolted.
Threshing machines are not particularly safe to operate; they beat and thrash at whatever is fed to them, be that sheaves of grain plants or arms and legs. Meikle's final design used a strong drum with fixed beaters. Thus, he avoided making the mistake he'd previously made, that is, building a device that rubbed the grain rather than beating it.
The first peasants to man them were often poorly trained and unfamiliar with the dangers of automated machinery. However, what made things far worse—in the late eighteenth century at least—was that peasants drank beer rather than water, which was of unreliable cleanliness. It was common for thirsty farm workers to drink several pints throughout the course of the day, keeping relatively hydrated but all the time drifting continuously and calamitously toward inebriation. The combination of unfamiliarity with the machines, fatigue, and inebriation resulted in a great many deaths and injuries.
The invention went on to form part of the combine harvesters that further revolutionized agriculture.
