The religion of the yellow stick (Scottish Gaelic: Creideamh a’ bhata-bhuidhe) was a facetious name given to the forced "belief" of certain churchgoers in the Hebrides of Scotland. Such actions, however, were not unique to the Hebrides, but occurred in other parts of Scotland in sterner times.
A Coll priest of former times was accustomed to drive recalcitrant natives to church by a smart application of his walking stick; those who yielded were thus said to come under Creideamh a’ bhata-bhuidhe.
Another version says that Hector (Scottish Gaelic: Eachann) the son of Donald MacLean of Coll, was the one who applied the yellow stick. Hector was laird in 1715, and as the religion of the yellow stick was introduced into Rùm in 1726, it is beyond doubt that Hector was the author or propagator of it. He was dignified in appearance and stern in manners, and could no doubt wield the yellow stick gracefully and with efficiency. Dr Samuel Johnson, on his famous journey round the Hebrides (1775) encountered the story; in Rum he said that there were
David Livingstone whose ancestors came from Ulva near Mull and Staffa said:
The "yellow stick" in Livingstone's description may be a reference to the Bishop of Lismore's crozier or baculum, in Gaelic the "Bachuil Mor" or staff of Saint Moluag, the patron saint of the Clan MacLea or Livingstone[1].