(Much Ado, iii. 4.)
We apply restive to a horse that will not stand still. It means properly a horse that will not do anything else. Fr. rétif, Old Fr. restif, from rester, to remain, Lat. re-stare, has kept more of the original sense of stubbornness. Scot. reest, reist, means to stand stock-still—
"Certain it was that Shagram reisted, and I ken Martin thinks he saw something."
(Monastery, Ch. 4.)
Dryden even uses restive in the sense of sluggish—
"So James the drowsy genius wakes
Of Britain, long entranced in charms,
Restive, and slumbering on its arms."
(Threnodia Augustalis.)
Reasty, used of meat that has "stood" too long, is the same word (cf. testy, Old Fr. testif, heady), and rusty bacon is probably folk-etymology for reasty bacon—
"And then came haltyng Jone,
And brought a gambone
Of bakon that was reasty."