Words In History: Gist
George Redmonds explains the meaning of the word 'gist', widely understood 500 years ago as referring to the rights of pasturage for cattle.
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Gist, Gist Cattle See also Agist, Jist
Gist is an aphetic spelling of agist, that is to sell rights of pasturage for cattle. Such rights were zealously guarded by landowners, as a Fountains Abbey lease of 1508 shows. It required the tenant 'to take no maner of cattell to geiste, ne suffer none to ryste (rest) upon the growndes'.
The word was readily linked with the animals that were pasturing and with the place where they pastured, and references to 'gyst cattell' (1609) are frequent.
Typical examples are 'gyest horse' (1554) and 'gyste heifer' (1727).
In 1642, Henry Best of Elmswell wrote 'such beasts as are taken into pasture to bee kept are hereabouts called geasters, i.e. gesters, and theire gates soe many severall jeasts'. This quotation shows how variable the spelling of'gist' might be.
