"Stones standing aloft in open fields" is referring to the stones of West Kennet Long Barrow - that might explain why the flood, and the stones standing aloft, were seen as a fore-runner of death"
A nice juxtaposition of stones, water, death and superstition in the 17th century, especially as the stones would have been silhouetted on the skyline.. like Stukeley's dramatic drawing...
