In the late summer of 1662, the judicial machinery of early modern Scotland turned its attention toward Ninian Coell, an individual residing in the burgh of Inverness. The formal record of the case, indexed under C/EGD/1666, dates the commencement of these proceedings to the 4th of September. While historical researchers, such as Christina Larner, have noted a potential ambiguity regarding the subject's gender—suggesting that the name Ninian might be a mistranscription of the Gaelic *nean*, which could imply the accused was actually female—the primary documentation officially identifies this person as a male.
Following the initial registration of the case, Ninian was entered into the trial system under the reference T/JO/988. Beyond the identification of the accused, the location of the residence, and the specific dates of the proceedings, the extant records remain silent. No further accounts detail the nature of the allegations, the identity of the accusers, or the final outcome of the trial. Thus, Ninian Coell remains a fleeting figure in the archival history of the Scottish witch trials, a name preserved in the registers of the Justiciary Court without the accompanying narrative of his experience within the legal process.