6o 
THE MONKS OF MARMOUTIER. 
Erfast’s lands which tells us that “ in the Church of Christ, 
near the city of York, is half a carucate of land and 3 tofts 
subject to Danegeld. Richard has it, and cultivates it.’’ A 
carucate was, of course, a variable quantity, anything between 
90 and 150 acres. It is quite evident, therefore, that Richard 
could not have held half a carucate in Christ’s Church, if that 
term only implied a Church. It must have been a district, 
and if we take half a carucate as meaning 70 acres it is a 
remarkable coincidence that the land which Richard held in 
Christ Church near the city of York was just the same size as 
the present parish of Holy Trinity. 
I am anxious that you should understand this matter, for 
with it is connected another question that has been of great 
interest to York people for a long time : the meaning of the 
word “Ainsty.” Scarcely a week passes but someone writes 
to the papers to ask for the derivation and meaning of'the 
term, and all sorts of answers have been given from time to 
time. The old explanation is that the word was “ made in 
Germany,” that it comes from the German word “ antossen,” 
which meant “ ancient.” “ Ainsty ” is not particularly like 
“ antossen,’' and unfortunately no one seems to be acquainted 
with that German word. Another explanation commonly 
given, and commonly accepted, is that “ Ainsty ” is “Ancitty,” 
that is “ Ancient City.” But, to say nothing of the unlikeli¬ 
hood of sucli an abbreviation, the district now known as the 
Ainsty never was the Ancient City, and why it should have 
been called so passes my powers of comprehension. A certain 
ecclesiastic wrote to the “ York Diocesan Magazine ” some 
time ago to suggest that the word was derived from “ ain,” 
an oak, and “ sty,” a place to keep pigs, and that the district 
was so named because there were a great many wild pigs in it 
whose chief article of diet was acorns ! I rather fancy that 
explanation was something of a joke. 
These are a few of the solutions which have been offered of 
this local etymological problem at various times. I ventured 
some time ago, to intervene in the controversy, and I believe I 
was regarded by some people as the arch-lunatic in the matter, 
though I was glad to find a number who were convinced that 
my derivation was the one long sought after. 
