JN I N 
9G 
reign of Tlieodofius the younger. Eede informs us, that 
he built a church dedicated to St. Martin, in a ftyle un¬ 
known to the Britons of that time j and adds, that 
during his time the Saxons held this province ( Galluvidia, 
now Galloway), and that, as in confequence of the labours 
of this faint the converts to Chriftianity increafed, an 
epifcopal fee was eftablilhed there. Dr. Henry, conlider- 
ing that “ few or none of the writings of the mod: ancient 
fathers of the Britifh church are now extant, and fince little 
being faid of them by their cotemporaries, we can know lit¬ 
tle of their perfonal hiftory, and of the extent of their eru¬ 
dition,” gives a fhort account of fome of them. Of St. 
Ninian he fays, “ he was a Briton of noble birth and ex¬ 
cellent genius. After he had received as good an educa¬ 
tion at home as his own country could afford, he tra¬ 
velled for his further improvement, and fpent feveral 
years at Rome, which was then the chief feat of learning 
as well as of empire. From thence he returned into 
Britain, and fpent his life in preaching the gol'pel in 
the molt uncultivated parts of it, with equal zeal and 
fuccefs.” 
NINI'AN’s (St.), a confiderable town and extenfive 
parilh in Scotland, fituated on the fouth bank of the river 
Forth, in the county of Stirling. The ancient name of the 
the parilh was Eggles; nor is it exactly known at what 
time, or from whom, it obtained its prefent appellation. 
The town is two miles from Stirling, and is noted for its 
manufacture of tartan, alfo for its tanneries; and, though 
it contains a population of 4.000 perfons, is Hill under the 
jurifdiCtion of the county-magiftrates only. Like mod of 
the other parilhes bordering on the Forth, that of St. 
Ninian is naturally divided into three regions, differing 
materially from each other in point of foil, fertility, and 
climate. Thefe are the carfe-lands, which approximate 
neareftto the river, the middle or dry lands, and the muir- 
lands. In the two firft-mentioned diftriC-ts the country 
exhibits an appearance of high cultivation, and derives 
much piCturefque effeCt from the windings of the Forth, 
and’the variety of plantations and feats with which they 
abound. To the hiftorian and the antiquary St. Ninian’s 
is a fruitful theme. Having been in very remote times 
fituated near the confines of no lefs than four kingdoms, 
it was, beyond doubt, frequently the Icene of contention 
.between them ; and was fometimes in the poffeflion of one, 
and fometimes of another. In fucceeding ages, it became 
the theatre of fome of the moll: glorious events in the 
annals of Scottilh hiftory. The celebrated battle of Ban¬ 
nockburn was fought within this parilh on the 24-th of 
June, 1314; and is Hill commemorated in the names of 
many fpots, as well as by feveral monuments ereCted by 
the victorious army. The pofition occupied by the troops 
of Bruce is diftinCtly marked by numerous veftiges of 
military art. On Brocks-brae is an immenfe ftone, called 
the Bore-ftone, faid to have fupported the ftandard of the 
Scottilh monarch ; and on Plain-muir, immediately 
behind the houfe which lately belonged to Bain Whyt, 
efq. is a final 1 circular fortification, pointed out as the 
fcite of king Edward’s tent. The battle of Sauchie-burn, 
fo fatal to the caufe of James III. was likewife decided 
in this parilh, not more than a mile from the field of Ban¬ 
nockburn. The houfe called Beaton’s-mills, where the 
wounded monarch fought refuge after the engagement, 
and was put to death, is Fill Handing. 
The parilh of St. Ninian’s extends, at a medium com¬ 
putation, about ten miles in length, and lix in breadth ; 
and abounds with ffrata of lime-ftone and coal ; though 
thefe minerals are only wrought in a few particular fpots. 
According to the parliamentary returns of 1811, it con¬ 
tains 1371 houfes, and 7636 inhabitants; being an in- 
creafe, fince 1801, of eleven houfes and 786 perfons. Sin¬ 
clair's Statijiical Account of Scotland, vol. xviii. 
NIN'NY, f. [nino , Span, a child.] A fool; a fimpleton. 
—What a pied ninny' s this ? ShakeJ’peare's Tempejl. 
The dean was fo (habby, and look’d like a ninny, 
That the captain fuppos’d he was curate. Swift, 
N I O 
NIN'NY-HAMMER, f A fimpleton.—Have you no 
more manners than to rail at Hocus, that has faved that 
clod-pated, numlkulled, ninny-hammer of yours from ruin, 
and all his family ? Arbuthnot's John Bull. 
NI'NO, a town of Curdiftan : fifty miles weft of Erbil. 
NINON' de L’ENCLO'S. See L’Enclos, vol. xii. 
NINO'VE, a town of the Netherlands, fituated on the 
Dender, with only one parilh-church, which is a hand- 
fome ftructure, rebuilt in the year 1718. It was anciently 
independent of Flanders, and governed by its own lords : 
it was firft furrounded with walls in 1194; had five gates 
and a caftle, now demoliihed. Ninove fuffered much 
during the wars; having been feveral times'lacked arid 
pillaged. It is eighteen miles fouth-eaft of Ghent, and 
thirteen weft of Bruffels. 
NINSE'A, a finall ifland near the north coaft of Sar¬ 
dinia. Lat.41.17. N. Ion. 9. 29 E. 
NIN'SI, f in botany. See Panax and Sium. 
NINTH, aclj. That which precedes the tenth; the firft 
after the eighth ; the ordinal of nine.—Upon a llriCt ob- 
fervarion of many, I have not found -any that fee the 
ninth day. Broicn's Vulg. Err. 
NI'NTHLY, adv. In the ninth place. Sherwood. 
NI'NUS, the firft king of the Affyrians, was, it is laid, 
the fon of Belus. It is added, that he enlarged Nineveh 
and Babylon ; conquered Zoroafter king of the BaCtrians; 
married Semiramis.of Afcalon ; fubdued almoft all Afia; 
and died, after a glorious reign of lift -two years, about 
1150 B.C. but all thefe fa£ts are uncertain. See Assyria, 
vol. ii. 
NIN'YAS, a fon of Ninus and Semiramis, king of 
Affyria, who fucceeded his mother when (lie voluntarily 
abdicated the crown. Some fuppofe that Semiramis was 
put to death by her own fon, becaufe the had encouraged 
him to commit inceft. The reign of Ninyas is remarkable 
for luxury and extravagance. The prince left the care of 
the government to his favourites and minifters ; gave 
himfelf up to pleafure, riot, and debauchery; and neveb 
appeared in public. His fucceffors imitated the example of 
his voluptuoufnefs; and therefore their name or hiftory 
are little known till the age of Sardanapalus. See Assy¬ 
ria, vol. ii. p. 295. 
NI'O, or Nios, an ifland of the Grecian Archipelago, 
anciently known under the name of Ios, becaufe it was 
peopled by Ionians, is lofty, mountainous, but jnterfeCted 
by fome valleys and fome plains not very extenfive; and 
is little more than forty miles in circuit. Its population 
includes 3700 perfons of the Greek church ; governed by 
a Greek waiwode, who is appointed by the Porte, and who 
maintains order, and adminifters juftice, conjointly with 
lix primates, whom the inhabitants eleCt every year in a 
general affembly. This ifland would have alrnoft efcaped 
notice, if Homer, palling from Samos to Athens, had not 
anchored in its harbour, and died there a few days after. 
The inhabitants paid the refpect to his memory of erect¬ 
ing a monument; no veftige of which now remains. See 
Homer, vol. x. p. 258. Moll of the medals of Nio bear 
a palm-tree on the reverfe; though this tree is no longer 
cultivated in the ifland, as the climate is not fufficiently 
warm. The inhabitants are chiefly cultivators ; few of 
thfem being mariners or merchants ; and, as they are aCtive 
and laborious, water the grounds intended to fupply her¬ 
bage and fruits, and well manure the foil, they render it, 
though naturally far from being fertile, in a confiderable 
degree productive. The women employ themfelves in 
fpinning the cotton which they gather, and in knitting 
ftockings and caps for fale. This ifland furnilhes wine, 
not only to all its inhabitants, but alio to thole veffels 
which anchor in the harbour. When the feafon is good, 
they gather about 50,000 okes of oil, of indifferent qua¬ 
lity. Cotton, to the amount of from eight to ten thou land 
okes, and alfo ftockings and caps, are annually exported 
for Ancona and Venice ; and fome cotton-cloths are ma¬ 
nufactured and conlumed in the ifland. A finall quan¬ 
tity of wax and honey is exported. The ifland breeds 
400 
