=Nightshade= (_Deadly_). We are told that the berries of this plant so intoxicated the soldiers of Sweno, the Danish king, that they became an easy prey to the Scotch, who cut them to pieces. ⁂ Called “deadly,” not from its poisonous qualities, but because it was used at one time for blackening the eyes in mourning. =Nimrod=, pseudonym of Charles James Apperley, author of _The Chase, The Road, The Turf_ (1852), etc.[TN-34] =Nim´ue=, a “damsel of the lake,” who cajoled Merlin in his dotage to tell her the secret “whereby he could be rendered powerless;” and then, like Delilah, she overpowered him, by “confining him under a stone.” Then after these quests, Merlin fell in a dotage on ... one of the damsels of the lake, hight Nimue, and Merlin would let her have no rest, but always he would be with her in every place. And she made him good cheer till she learned of him what she desired.... And Merlin shewed to her in a rock, whereas was a great wonder ... which went under a stone. So by her subtle craft, she made Merlin go under that stone ... and he never came out, for all the craft that he could do.--Sir T. Malory, _History of Prince Arthur_, i. 60 (1470). It is not unlikely that this name is a clerical error for Nineve or Ninive. It occurs only once in the three volumes. (See NINIVE.)[TN-35] ⁂ Tennyson makes Vivien the seductive betrayer of Merlin, and says she enclosed him “in the four walls of a hollow tower;” but the _History_ says “Nimue put him under the stone” (pt. i. 60). =Nino-Thoma=,[TN-36] daughter of Tor-Thoma (chief of one of the Scandinavian islands). She eloped with Uthal (son of Larthmor, a petty king of Berrathon, a neighboring island); but Uthal soon tired of her, and, having fixed his affections on another, confined her in a desert island. Uthal, who had also dethroned his father, was slain in single combat by Ossian, who had come to restore the deposed monarch to his throne. When Nina-Thoma heard of her husband’s death, she languished and died, “for though most cruelly entreated, her love for Uthal was not abated.”--Ossian, _Berrathon_. =Nine.= “It is by nines that Eastern presents are given, when they would extend their magificence[TN-37] to the highest degree.” Thus, when Dakiānos wished to ingratiate himself with the shah, He caused himself to be preceded by nine superb camels. The first was loaded with nine suits of gold adorned with jewels; the second bore nine sabres, the hilts and scabbards of which were adorned with diamonds; upon the third camel were nine suits of armor; the fourth had nine suits of house furniture; the fifth had nine cases full of sapphires; the sixth had nine cases full of rubies; the seventh nine cases full of emeralds; the eighth had nine cases full of amethysts; and the ninth had nine cases full of diamonds.--Comte de Caylus, _Oriental Tales_ (“Dakianos and the Seven Sleepers,” 1743).