In 1655, Henrie Lyell, a resident of Wick in Caithness, became the subject of a legal proceeding concerning the charge of witchcraft. The records regarding his case, archived under the reference C/EGD/776, highlight a turbulent encounter with the Scottish judicial system during a period when such accusations were frequently pursued with rigorous legal scrutiny. While the precise nature of the allegations brought against him remains unrecorded, the gravity of the situation was such that Henrie was formally brought before the circuit court to answer for these claims.
The outcome of the proceedings against Henrie remains lost to the historical record, as the case was never concluded through a final verdict. Instead, his involvement in the witch trials reached a juncture when he was officially declared a fugitive. According to documentation from the circuit court (T/LA/1935) and records catalogued by Larner et al., Henrie absconded rather than face the court's judgment. Consequently, he was listed among those evading the reach of the law, leaving the exact resolution of his case an enduring uncertainty in the archival history of early modern Caithness.