On November 25, 1655, an individual identified in the records only as "Graycoat" became the subject of a formal inquiry regarding witchcraft in the county of Caithness. The designation remains an enigma to historians; it is uncertain whether Graycoat was a genuine name, a descriptor of attire, or a protective alias adopted to shield a true identity. Unlike many cases processed through the Kirk Sessions of the era, the documentation provides no evidence that the local church authorities in Thurso—or any other parish—initiated formal disciplinary proceedings against her, leaving the precise origin and social standing of the accused obscured by the passage of time.
The archival entry (C/JO/3157) notes simply that Graycoat was "suspect of witchcraft," a status that in seventeenth-century Scotland often carried significant social weight, regardless of whether it culminated in a trial or a verdict. The absence of further records suggests that, for reasons not preserved in the surviving manuscripts, the suspicion against Graycoat did not lead to the rigorous interrogations or legal scrutiny that defined many contemporary witch trials. As such, Graycoat remains a fleeting figure in the historical record, representing one of the many individuals whose lives were momentarily touched by the pervasive anxieties surrounding witchcraft, only to fade back into the anonymity of the Caithness landscape.