[6] It was described as ".. the new Kirk of Ballantry; quhilk the lady had caussitt build for hir husband, quhair scho had gartt sett wp ane glorieous towme".

[8] In 1855 a roofed building stood attached to the east gable end of the David Ferguson Kennedy of Finarts Aisle, unroofed by 1894, the ruins of which survive.

[12] He was ambushed at Pennyglen, Lady Corse, near Maybole with only thirty or so attendants in a snowstorm by around 200[7] men[2] led by John Kennedy, 5th Earl of Cassilis.

[13] Gilbert's body was at first interred in a leaden coffin in St John's, the old Kirk of Ayr,[7] until the tomb at Ballantrae was ready for his burial in his own lands.

[14] Gilbert was described by one source in the following terms "He wes the brawest manne that wes to be gottin in ony land; of hiche statour, and weill maid; his hair blak, but of ane comlie feace, the brawest horsmainne, ane the ae best of mony at all pastymis, for he was feirce and feirry, and wonder nimbill.

Janet and her sisters were maidens or ladies in waiting in the household of Queen Anne of Denmark, wife of James VI of Scotland.

[17] Janet died of a fever, possibly tuberculosis, on 16 August 1605 at Stilton, after consulting the queen's physician Martin Schöner in London about her consumption.

[18] Her body was brought to lie next to her husband at St John's, the old Kirk of Ayr[7] prior to their joint funeral on 15 December 1605.

[14] Taking place on 15 September 1605, "... the procession which accompanied the remains from Ayr to Ballantrae numbered one thousand gentlemen on horseback.

[5] The original arch leading into the nave of the old church was partly filled with rubble stonework with a new wooden door constructed in the centre.

[3] The entry in the Ordnance Survey Book for 1855–1857 regarding the aisle states "It is all that remains of that building, & was a few years ago level with the Surface, when Captain Kennedy, Finnart got it rebuilt.

The stone paved floor of the aisle has a section of large rectangular slabs that give access to the burial crypt below.

The inscription above the door reads "This aisle contains the burying place of the family of Bargany and Ardstinchar, Chief of the name of Kennedy ; and a monument raised over the remains of Gilbert, the sixteenth baron, who was slain in a feudal conflict with his cousin, the Earl of Cassillis, at Maybole in 1601, at the early age of twenty-five; at which conflict, when overpowered by numbers, Bargany displayed the most consummate bravery.

The epitaph having been defaced, the representative of the family, Hew F. Kennedy, now of Bennane, mindful of their virtues, has considered it his duty to erect this tablet to the memory of his ancestors".

An awkward square sectioned baluster rises from the chest at the centre to supports the weight of the armorial panel above.

Three small carved figures have been identified by one source as 'weepers' or symbols of mourning[1] Janet Stewart and Gilbert Kennedy had three children, a son Thomas and two daughters who died young.

[2] The gap between the small half-length alto-relief carved figures and the four projecting trusses is further suggestive of a bible board having once been present.

The laird, Gilbert, is recumbent and shown life size in full armour with his head resting on a pillow and his legs pressed against a board.

[23] Given the loss of other extensive carved text from the Kennedy Monument the survival of Scougal's mason's mark or any signature is however unlikely.

The Ordnance Survey Name Book for 1855 – 1857 states that "A recent attempt to renovate this interesting relic of antiquity has done [more] than time to deface it".