A Stickit minister is a term of obloquy in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, for a candidate for holy orders who has failed to pass the necessary examination, or to give satisfaction before whom he preached the probationary sermon

Sermon

A sermon is an oration by a prophet or member of the clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, religious, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law or behavior within both past and present contexts...

. The Scottish Gaelic equivalent is ministear-maide. There are two possible origins, firstly, as the Scottish Gaelic version maide implies, that the minister is "wooden" and stick like, or alternatively that it refers to hesitancy, or "sticking". (stickit is the Lowland Scots

Scots language

Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...

 for stuck). John Jamieson

John Jamieson

John Jamieson FRSE was a Scottish minister of religion, lexicographer, philologist and antiquary.The son of the Rev John Jamieson, Minister of the Associate Congregation, Duke Street, Glasgow, he was educated at Glasgow Grammar School.He was educated at the University of Glasgow, and subsequently...

 quotes an example: "Puir lad! The first time he tried to preach, he stickit his sermon", and further glosses: "A speech is stickit when the speaker hesitates and is unable to proceed". The term is still in minor use, but is becoming extinct.

The "stickit minister" was a staple of Scottish literature

Scottish literature

Scottish literature is literature written in Scotland or by Scottish writers. It includes literature written in English, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Brythonic, French, Latin and any other language in which a piece of literature was ever written within the boundaries of modern Scotland.The earliest...

 during the 18th and 19th centuries, the most notable example being S. R. Crockett's short story, The Stickit Minister, published in 1893. A common theme of this work is the humanity of Christianity. The stories reveal both good and bad examples of ministers and their behaviour and deal with the role of faith in confronting hypocrisy, in others and oneself. The life of a minister is described in a considerate manner.

The term is not related to the Religion of the Yellow Stick

Religion of the Yellow Stick

The religion of the yellow stick 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....

.