"mechanicals" as in "tradesmen?" What do you mean? I don't think I've ever heard mechanical used as a noun.

meschéante Oh--miscreant!
mis·cre·ant (mĭs'krē-ənt)
n.
1. An evildoer; a villain.
2. An infidel; a heretic.

[Middle English miscreaunt, heretic, from Old French mescreant, present participle of mescroire, to disbelieve : mes-, wrongly, not; see mis–1 + croire, to believe (from Latin crēdere).]
From Gurunet.