The village of East Budleigh, which is also the name of one of the hundreds into which Devon is divided, lies about two miles above Budleigh-Salterton, on the banks of the river Otter. Leland, in his _Itinerary_, thus notices East Budleigh: "On the west side of the haven is Budelegh, right almost against Oterton, but it is somewhat more from the shore than Oterton. Lesse then an hunderith yeres sins, ships usid this harbour, but it is now clene barrid. Some call this Budeley Haven, of Budeley town." It has been supposed by Polwhele that the name Budleigh, or Budely, is derived from the British _budelle_, a stream, and that it had originated from the number of springs or small brooks which run through every valley in the parish; for scarcely a house can be found that is more than a furlong distant from a rivulet. Hayes, near East Budleigh, is celebrated as the birthplace of Sir Walter Raleigh. This fact is mentioned in our notice of Ladram Bay; but the following circumstance, which has since come to our knowledge, will confirm the remarks we then made, by showing the hero's love for the place of his birth, and its probable effect upon his after life. His father having only a lease of the property, it subsequently came into the possession of a person named Duke, to whom Sir Walter addressed a letter, dated "From the Court, 26th July, 1584," wherein he expresses a wish to purchase the farm and house of Hayes, and says that from "the natural disposition he has to that place, being born in that house, he would rather seat himself there than any where else." The proprietor, not wishing to have so great a man for a neighbour, did not comply with Sir Walter's request. The letter, about fifty years ago, was to be seen at Otterton House, pasted on a piece of board for its better preservation.[3] At St. Mary Ottery, about six miles above East Budleigh, on the opposite side of the river, the poet Coleridge was born, in 1772. When young he went to London, where he was educated at Christ's Hospital; and few reminiscences of the place of his birth are to be found in his poems, though he has dedicated one sonnet to his "Dear native brook, wild streamlet of the west,"--the river Otter. [3] Polwhele's _History of Devon_, vol ii. p. 219. [Illustration: VIEW FROM THE BEACH AT SIDMOUTH. _LOOKING TOWARDS THE SOUTH-WEST._] VIEW FROM THE BEACH AT SIDMOUTH, LOOKING TOWARDS THE SOUTH-WEST. In this view, from a painting by J. D. Harding, the characteristic features of the coast of Devon are most happily expressed; and the manner in which the subject is treated at once displays the feeling of the artist to appreciate, and his ability to depict, the most beautiful scenery of the English coast. The simplicity of truth is not here outraged for the sake of pictorial effect, but the whole composition is at the same time appropriate, natural, and pleasing.