In 1655, the legal records of the Scottish circuit court identify Marshall Sutherland, a resident of Wick in Caithness, as a man sought by the authorities in connection with the crime of witchcraft. The documentation concerning Marshall is preserved within the judicial archives as case C/EGD/768, though it remains a fragmentary glimpse into a broader period of judicial activity. Rather than undergoing a trial within the town, Marshall was recorded as a fugitive, marking his status as an individual who had absconded to avoid the reach of the circuit court.
Because Marshall fled the jurisdiction, his case is defined by an absence of testimony, verdict, or subsequent sentence. While Christina Larner and other scholars have cataloged his name among the lists of those pursued for alleged occult activities during this volatile era, the records remain silent regarding the specific nature of the accusations brought against him. Consequently, Marshall’s involvement in the legal machinery of seventeenth-century Scotland is defined by his departure from the courtroom, leaving the final outcome of his case to history as unknown.