15 February 2024, Starts: 19:30

The Religion of the Yellow Stick

Online talk by Prof. Callum Beck

Organised by Society of Highland & Island Historical Research. Free to members, non-members requested to make donation of £5 to society funds. For further details, booking and joining details see the Society's website.

The ‘Religion of the Yellow Stick’ is a facetious label used in the Hebrides and in Prince Edward Island, Canada, to describe a persecution of “Catholicks” by a Presbyterian laird in the outer Hebrides. The two lairds, Islands and times most often associated with this title are MacLean of Coll on Rum in 1725 and Boisdale on South Uist in 1770, but there are about 15 historical contexts with which it has been associated. This talk will demonstrate the originating event underlying this label and trace the rise of the variant versions.