⁹McComb, William. Guide to Belfast, the Giant's Causeway, and the Adjoining Districts of the Counties of Antrim and Down, with an Account of the Battle of Ballynahinch, and the Celebrated Mineral Waters of That Neighborhood ... Belfast: Author, 1861. 98-100.
The author alludes to his skepticism regarding the 1744 account: "If we are to rely upon the authority of Harris, who, in his '* History of County Down," (1744) states that two ranges of pillars, each consisting of seven, supported the great superincumbent rook ; besides which there were several other stones fixed upright in the ground, at the distance of about four feet. At present, the incumbent stone rests upon only four supporters – that on the South side being also an incumbent stone, resting upon three upright ones, and thus forming a secondary Cromlech.
Borlase however had more faith in the 1744 description of the site: "A writer in the Dublin Penny Journal (1834-35), who gives a picture of the structure, says: 'This cromlech is either very erroneously described by Mr. Harris, or its appearance has greatly altered since the year 1744. We are informed by him that 'two ranges of pillars,' each consisting of seven, support this monstrous rock, beside which there are several other stones fixed upright in the ground at a distance of about 4 feet. Of these latter there remains but one. The upper stone at present rests upon four, and not upon fourteen supporters. The entire number which compose the' altar' is only ten; and, though it is probable that several may have fallen down, or in some manner changed their position, it is inconceivable how so great a disproportion as the two accounts present could ever be reconciled.' In this view, namely that Harris was inaccurate, I disagree, firstly, because the monument he describes is so exactly what I should have expected it to have been from the present ruins, and, secondly, because, in an agricultural country like this, with stones required for gateposts and houses not far off, it is so easy to account for the removal of the outer ring as well as some of the fabric of the vault." (Borlase, William Copeland. The Dolmens of Ireland Their Distribution, Structural Characteristics, (...). Vol. 1. London: Chapman & Hall, 1897. 275-81.)