82 PAPERS, ETC 
the SPINE of the hill ; which is certainly deseriptive of its 
appearance from all the lowlands around.* 
Ineed not do more at present than merely refer, in 
passing, to Langport—the Llong-borth, the “port for 
vessels” of the ancient Britons,—as in a former paper I 
explained what I conceive to be its origin and its history. 
Leaving PoLDon likewise—the MOEL-Y-DONf or VOEL- 
DON of the Britons—a name descriptive of its character, 
when it stood out as “elevated land” (Morr) in the 
midst of the waves (Don); and STREET, which, of itself, 
is an undoubted indication of Roman occupaney, and of 
its position on a Roman high-way, STRATUM, we come to 
GLASTONBURY. This place is rich above all others in 
names, which clearly indicates the various points of interest 
from which it was regarded by successive generations, 
during the ancient British and the early Saxon periods. 
Thus we find it called, in very carly times, YNYS-AVALLON 
—“ the island of apple trees.” This name was evidently 
given at the time when the present turf moors between 
the Poldon and Mendips were in the course of formation 
beneath the expanding waters of an estuary, or of an 
inland lake. That it was known by this name during the 
Roman period is evident from the latinized form, Avalonia, 
which occurs in some of the Itineraries. Its former posi- 
tion in respect to surrounding water or marsh-lands, is 
indicated by another name— Yxys-WYrryn—“ the island 
in the midst of bogs or marshes.” Wytrin is a form of 
wY, the Celtic word for water, which enters so largely 
into the composition of the names of rivers and lakes in 
* In the modern Castle-Rach, the ch is soft: in the Celtie Castell- 
Rhac, the c is hard. Chester from Castr um ; Charter from Carta, are 
instances of a similar change of sound. 
f There is a Moeu-v-Don, in the present day, near the Menai Straits. 
