Milldam, s. The mound by which the water is kept up to raise it for the mill.
Millepedes, s. Wood-lice, so called from their numerous feet.
Miller’s-thumb, s. A small fish found in brooks, called likewise a bull’s head.
Millet, s. A plant; a kind of fish.
Mineral, s. Fossil body, matter dug out of mines.
Minnow, s. A very small fish, a pink.
This beautiful little fish abounds in many of our small gravelly streams, where they keep in shoals; it is sometimes called the pink, and when in right season and not sick, which only happens just after spawning, is dappled, its sides inclining to a greenish watery sky colour, its belly white, and its back almost black, but these colours are not universal; the body is slender and smooth, the scales being extremely small; it seldom exceeds three inches in length; the lateral line is of a golden colour, the back flat and of a deep olive; the sides and belly vary greatly in different fish, as a few are of a rich crimson, others are bluish, and others white. The tail is forked, and marked near the base with a dusky spot. The minnow appears first in March, continues until Michaelmas, and then betakes himself to the mud, weed-roots, or wood in rivers, to secure himself from floods and fishes of prey. They are usually full of spawn all the summer (for they breed often), and quickly arrive at their growth and perfection.
Although so diminutive in size, the minnow may be compared for the excellency of its taste to many of the most famed fish; they are in some places made into minnow tansies; after being gutted and well washed in salt and water, their heads and tails cut off, they are then to be put with yolks of eggs well beat with cowslips and primrose flowers, and a little tansy shred very small, and fried in good butter; the sauce to them is butter, vinegar, or verjuice, and sugar. To the young sportsman, who has not possessed himself of the patience requisite to form the angler, the minnow yields plenty of amusement. They will in hot weather bite eagerly all day, and are frequently drawn out of the water from their adhering to the end of the worm, without being touched by the hook; the best way to catch them, is, to have three or four very small hooks, baited with the least red worm, or a piece of one, and a crow quill float; fish deeper than midwater, or near the ground in shallow places, in eddies, and at the sides of small streams.
Minnows are very excellent baits for many fish, as will hereafter be specified, and when wanted in haste for that purpose, a small meshed casting-net will save much time and trouble, as enough for a day’s diversion may be caught at a throw or two in shallow streams.