c. 1817.—"... his house and garden might be known from a thousand others by their extraordinary neatness. His garden was full of trees, and was well fenced round with a ditch and mindey hedge."—Mrs. Sherwood's Stories, ed. 1873, p. 71.
MERCÁLL, MARCÁL, s. Tam. marakkāl, a grain measure in use in the Madras Presidency, and formerly varying much in different localities, though the most usual was = 12 sers of grain. [Also known as toom.] Its standard is fixed since 1846 at 800 cubic inches, and = 1⁄400 of a [garce] (q.v.).
1554.—(Negapatam) "Of ghee (mamteiga) and oil, one mercar is = 2½ canadas" (a Portuguese measure of about 3 pints).—A. Nunez, 36.
1803.—"... take care to put on each bullock full six mercalls or 72 seers."—Wellington Desp., ed. 1837, ii. 85.
MERGUI, n.p. The name by which we know the most southern district of Lower Burma with its town; annexed with the rest of what used to be called the "Tenasserim Provinces" after the war of 1824-26. The name is probably of Siamese origin; the town is called by the Burmese Beit (Sir A. Phayre).
1568.—"Tenasari la quale è Città delle regioni del regno di Sion, posta infra terra due o tre maree sopra vn gran fiume ... ed oue il fiume entra in mare e vna villa chiamata Mergi, nel porto della quale ogn' anno si caricano alcune navi di verzino (see [BRAZIL]-wood and [SAPPAN]-wood), di [nipa] (q.v.), di belzuin (see [BENJAMIN]), e qualche poco di garofalo, macis, noci...."—Ces. Federici, in Ramusio, iii. 327v.
[1684-5.—"A Country Vessel belonging to Mr. Thomas Lucas arriv'd in this Road from Merge."—Pringle, Diary, Ft. St. Geo., 1st ser. iv. 19.
[1727.—"Merjee." See under [TENASSERIM].]
MILK-BUSH, MILK-HEDGE, s. Euphorbia Tirucalli, L., often used for hedges on the Coromandel coast. It abounds in acrid milky juices.
c. 1590.—"They enclose their fields and gardens with hedges of the zekoom (zaḳḳum) tree, which is a strong defence against cattle, and makes the country almost impenetrable by an army."—Ayeen, ed. Gladwin, ii. 68; [ed. Jarrett, ii. 239].