Agistment

Agistment [fr. jacere,:at.; gesir, Fr., to lie, whence giste, a lodging], the taking in of other men's cattle into pasture-land, at a certain rate per week, without letting them the land for their exclusive use as tenants; so called because the cattle are suffered agiser, i.e., to be levant et couchant there. Also the profit of such feeding. As to the extent to which the 'agister' is liable for negligence in the keeping of the cattle, see Halestrap v. Gregory, (1895) 1 QB 561. A restriction upon the power of distraining agisted cattle (in some parts of the country called 'tacks') for rent is imposed by s. 35 of the Agricultural Holdings Act, 1923. See also Manwood's Forest Laws, cc. 11-80, where to 'agist' is to take in and feed strangers' cattle in the Royal Forest and to collect the money due for it. Agistment does not include a right of lien, Chapman v. Allen, 1631 Cro Car 271.

Agistment of sea banks [terr' agitat', Lat.] is where lands are charged with a tribute to keep out the sea.