Ticket Link: With the Devil’s Assistance - The Village Storytelling Centre

**** The Scotsman

**** The Guardian

There is a legend from Shona Cowie’s hometown, Ayr, that a 17th-century witch built a house on the high street in just one night with the Devil’s assistance. Today, a quarter of the shops on Ayr high street are empty – the town holds one of the highest shop vacancy rates in Britain. The plot that the witch was said to have built on has always done alright though, Number 82 – Marks and Spencer.

With the support of Ayrshire Historian Halima Campbell, Shona has been unpacking this legend and discovered that, surprisingly, some of the story is true. It has at its centre a real woman, a 17th-century entrepreneur named Maggie Osbourne, who built and ran a successful business on that plot. Maggie was responsible for bringing significant wealth and employment to…