he was appointed miniature-painter in ordinary to William IV and Queen Adelaide, and from 1837 to 1858 held the same office under Queen Victoria. He was knighted in 1837. Newton devised a plan for joining several pieces of ivory to form a large surface, and was thereby enabled to paint some historical groups of unusual size. Three of these, ‘The Coronation of the Queen, 1838;’ ‘The Marriage of the Queen, 1840;’ and ‘The Christening of the Prince of Wales, 1842’— were lent to the Victorian Exhibition at the New Gallery in 1892. Many of his portraits have been engraved, including those of Dr. Lushington, Joanna Baillie, Sir Herbert Taylor, Joseph Hume, Lady Byron, Miss Paton the actress, and Lady Sophia Gresley. Though popular, Newton's art was of rather poor quality, weak in drawing and deficient in character, and he never obtained Academy honours. He long resided in Argyll Street, but after his retirement removed to 6 Cambridge Terrace, Hyde Park, where he died 22 Jan. 1869. He married in 1822 Anne, daughter of Robert Faulder; she died in 1856. Some drawings by Newton, among them a portrait of himself, are in the print room of the British Museum. A collection of his works was sold at Christie's, 23 June 1890.
Newton's son, Harry Robert Newton, an architect, studied under Sydney Smirke, R.A.; he died in November 1889. His collection of drawings and manuscripts now belongs to the Institute of British Architects.
[Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Art Journal, 1869, p. 84; Debrett's Peerage.]
NIAL, AOD or HUGH. [See O'Neill, Hugh, 1540?–1616, ‘the arch-rebel.’]
NIALL (d. 405), king of Ireland, son of Eochaidh Muighmheadhoin, also king of Ireland, and his second wife Cairinne, is known in Irish writings as Naighiallach, a word translated ‘of the nine hostages,’ but not accounted for by any early record. He made war upon the Leinstermen and the Munstermen, and also fought in Britain and perhaps in Gaul. It has been supposed that he was the Scot whose attack on Stilicho is commemorated by Claudian (In primum Consulatum F. Stilichonis, ii. 247). In tales and poems he is described as having a bard named Laidcenn, and as having been himself educated by Torna Eigeas. He was killed by one of his hostages, Eochaidh, son of Enna Ceannseallach, king of Leinster, at Muir nIcht, perhaps the Ictian Sea, or coast of Gaul. The fact that there is no history of his tomb or burial in Ireland seems to confirm this identification. Though often mentioned in Irish literature, very little is recorded of his time, and that he is one of the best-known kings of Ireland is due to the fame of his descendants. Several of the chief tribes of the north and of Meath regarded him as their ancestor, and it is from him that the O'Neills take their name. The following are the names of those of his fourteen sons who had children, with those of the more important tribes who claimed descent from them: (1) Laeghaire (O'Coindhelbhain); (2) Conall Crimhthainne (O'Melaghlin); (3) Fiacha (MacGeoghegan and O'Molloy); (4) Maine (O'Catharnaigh), all these in Meath, and in the north; (5) Eoghan (O'Neill); (6) Conall Gulban (O'Cannanain and O'Donell). The descendants of Cairbre and Enda Finn are less famous.
In the ‘Book of Leinster,’ a twelfth-century manuscript (fol. 33, col. 2, l. 10), is a poem by Cuan O'Lothchain containing tales of Niall's childhood. In the ‘Book of Ballymote,’ a manuscript of the fifteenth century, the history of his life is related in prose and verse (fol. 265, cols. a and b). In the ‘Leabhar Buidhe Leacain,’ a fourteenth-century manuscript, is a lament for him ascribed to Torna Eigeas, but obviously of much later date. He is always described as having long yellow hair.
[Book of Leinster, facs.; Book of Ballymote, facs.; Annala Rioghachta Eireann, vol. i.]
NIALL (715–778), king of Ireland, surnamed Frassach, born in 715, was son of Ferghal mac Maelduin, king of Ireland, (711–22), and younger brother of Aodh Ollan, king of Ireland (734–43), was directly descended from Muircheartach (d. 533) [q. v.] and from Niall (d. 405) [q. v.] He became king of Ireland on the death of Domhnall mac Murchadha in 763. Niall's reign was a period of famine and pestilence; he fought no great battles, but exacted tributes from Connaught, Munster, and Leinster. In 770 he resigned his throne and entered the religious community of Icolmcille, where he died in 778 and was buried. There is a copy of a poem of four lines on his reign by Gilla Modubhda in the ‘Book of Ballymote,’ a fifteenth-century manuscript, another poem of twelve lines in the ‘Annals of Ulster,’ and a shorter one in the ‘Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland.’ The two last refer only to his cognomen, Frassach. Fras is the Irish for a shower, and frassach or frossach means ‘of showers,’ and is translated ‘nimbosus’ by O'Flaherty (Ogygia, p. 433). The ‘Annals of Ulster’ explain the word by a story of the king with seven bishops praying in
