"[1] Dobie goes on to state that "The old baronial manor place is supposed to have been situated about a mile south-east of Kilmaurs, where some ruins can still be pointed out on the farm of Jakisthorn[2] or Jock's-thorn, probably the original Villam de Cuninghame - the first possession of the family.

"[4] The map by Timothy Pont from circa 1600 shows a typical tower castle within an enclosure with a second area of enclosed woodland running up beside the Carmell Water.

[6] The Statistical Account of 1791-99 says of the Earl of Glencairn "that noble family then resided in this parifh, where they had a houfe, fome fmall ruins of which yet remain on the farm which is called Jock's-thorn, near to the road leading from Stewarton to Kilmarnock, ..."[7] Roys military map of the area dating from the 1750s indicates a large area of probable woodland/land that is not being cultivated where Kilmaurs Castle is said to have once stood.

"[11] The RCAHMS records cartographic evidence of a castellated building at this site,[12] probably a typical Scottish tower castle.

The term 'Thorn' in Jocksthorn may derive from 'torn, thorn, a tower', as in Jocks-Thorn on Cumbrae, "alias Jock-Torn; and head, an eminence; hence tower-hill.

[14] The traditional site has a great deal of field clearance stones laid along the line of the hedge leading to Jocksthorn Farm where medieval coins have been found.

The RCAHMS Canmore site records that "Slight undulations suggest previous disturbance and many large, shapeless stones are dumped against an adjacent hedge.