Early Life
Gilbert Kennedy was the son of
David Kennedy, 1st Earl Cassilis and
Agnes Borthwick.
Life & Career
From
The Scots Peerage1
Gilbert Kennedy succeeded his father in 1513. In 1516 he was appointed by the
Bishop of Galloway bailie of all the lands belonging to the bishopric in Galloway, and captain and keeper of the manor-place and loch of Inch. He was ambassador to England 1515-16, and on 14 November 1516, out of special favour towards him,
James V. erected the town of
Maybole into a free burgh of barony. On 5 January 1515 he sold
Egidia Blair, widow of
James Kennedy of Row (his great-uncle) an annual rent of lands belonging to Dunure, of the value of £10, to found a chaplainry at Maybole, with reversion of patronage thereof to himself. His name frequently occurs in the Exchequer Rolls of the period as Chamberlain of Carrick, Leswalt, and Menybrig. On 23 September 1514 he got sasine of lands of Balniaclannochan (Kilkerran) in Carrick, with tower and fortalice thereof.
He and the Lords Erskine, Borthwick and Moray, and Fleming acted at different times as custodians of the person of the young
King James V.; and in the Earl's account as Chancellor of Galloway, rendered 17 March 1523, £150 is paid to him as salary, assigned to him by Act of Parliament for remaining with the King three months. On 15 June 1523 the Earl had a Commission of Justiciary as bailie of Glenluce, the jurisdiction extending over the barony of Glenluce for three years, and further at the King's pleasure. He acted more than once as ambassador, as in 1525 £160 is assigned to him, and like sums to the other ambassadors. He and the
Bishop of Dunkeld had been appointed by Parliament as ambassadors to England on 19 November 1524.
In 1525 he was tried for the murder of Martin Kennedy of Lochland, but was acquitted through the influence of his brother-in-law, the
Earl of Argyll [Colin Campbell]. He was, on 30 October 1526, discharged of all points of treason for being present at the battle beside Linlithgow, and aiding and abetting the late Earl of Lennox in his unsuccessful attempt to rescue James V. from the Angus faction. The Earl's lands were forfeited and given to the Earl of Arran, but he never seems to have occupied them. Like most chiefs of the period, he had to provide surety for many of his followers concerned in crimes, and he several times compounded for the fines which they incurred.
The Earl was in Edinburgh on 24 August 1527, and in the following month he was assassinated by Sir Hugh Campbell of Loudoun, Sheriff of Ayr, at Prestwick, probably when holding Court there. For this murder revenge was taken by the Kennedys according to an oath traditionally said to have been taken by the clan under the dule-tree of Cassillis. The Sheriff was outlawed on 5 October 1527, and other Campbells as well as Crawfords were punished, and on November 13, 1527, many others suffered for intercommuning with them. It appears that the Sheriff was a supporter of the Angus faction.
From
The Complete Peerage2:
He was P.C. to James V, by whom he was twice sent on an embassy to England, taking the part of the Queen Dowager against the Earl of Angus. He was of the French faction and supported the Regent Albany, and was one of those in charge of the young King in 1523. Having joined in the unsuccessful attempt of the Earl of Lennox to rescue the King from the Douglas faction, he was a prisoner in the hands of the Earl of Arran in Dec. 1526. He m. Isabel, 2nd da. of Archibald (Campbell), 2nd Earl of Argyll, by Elizabeth, da. of John (Stuart), Earl of Lennox. He d. between 24 and 30 Aug. 1527, being slain by Sir Hugh Campbell, of Loudoun, at the Pow [Burn?] of Prestwick, co. Ayr.
Death
Gilbert was assassinated September 1527, in
Prestwick.
Footnotes
[1]
The Scots Peerage, Volume 2 (1905), Kennedy, Earl of Cassilis, pages 464-466
[2]
The Complete Peerage, GE Cokayne, 2nd Edition, Volume 3 (Canonteign to Cutts), London (1913); Cassilis, page 74
1514 - 1527 (~ 97 years)
[1] 
