On the paternal side, the list commences with Nigell de Hodleston, settled in Cumberland at the time of Henry I., which Nigell, surnamed Propositus (provost or warden), “gave to the Abbey of Selby two carrucates of land and a half in Millum, and parte of his tythe in Hodleston, with the socage, &c.” About the same period mention is made of Godard de Millum, who gave to the Abbey of St. Mary of Furney’s certain lands “for the safety of his soul, and of all his ancestors.” Sir Adam de Hodleston sat in Parliament as Knight of the Shire, in the third of Edward II., and afterwards became connected by marriage with Miles de Stapleton de Bedell, of the county of York. Millum Castle was fortified and embattled, in 1335, by Sir John de Hodleston; and a Richard de Hodleston was a man-at-arms at the battle of Agincourt, in the retinue of Sir William de Harington, Knight of the Garter. He was knighted after the engagement, by the king. From an intermarriage among the descendants of Nigell and Goddard, sprang the above-mentioned Sir William Hodleston, whose grandson, John,[2] (afterwards knighted by Mary), was united to Bridgett, daughter of Robert Cotton, of Landwade, or Lanwood, ancestor of the present Sir Vincent Cotton; for him, or by him, Sawston Hall, as it now stands, was erected. The circumstances connected with the building of Sawston Hall are akin to Romance. The popular tradition is, that it was erected at the cost of Queen Mary, who, when a fugitive from her enemies, after the death of Edward VI., found shelter in the ancient house of the Huddlestons. Her pursuers reached the Hall within a very short time after she had quitted it; and in their rage of disappointment at losing their prey, burnt to the ground the mansion that had harboured her. She is said to have witnessed the conflagration from a distant hill; and to have exclaimed, “Let the house burn; I will build Huddleston a better.” “She kept her word:” writes a modern historian. “Sawston Hall was built by her order, and at her cost.” Unfortunately, however, there exists evidence that the Queen forgot her promise, if she ever made it, to her preserver. It is believed, indeed, that “she gave the stone from Cambridge Castle to rebuild the House,” but it is certain that, at least, it was unfinished many years after Mary’s death, although commenced during her lifetime. In the court-yard are two stones, which record the dates--probably of the commencement and termination of the building. Upon one are the initials, J. H., and the date 1557; on the other, those of E. H., (Edmund, son of Sir John,) with the date 1584.