Wishing Stone location along this path

In late September 1912, the Cannock Chase Courier newspaper covered a story dating back to the English Civil War, about a local Cavalier officer going off to fight for King Charles I and the vigil of a young Cannock Chase woman who waited for his return. The story was recounted to the journalist by an aged descendant (described as ‘grey beard’) of a family of Cannock Chase Foresters, the story was published under the headline “A LOCAL ROMANCE”. It is only a boulder:- There are many like it. They are silent testimonies of the Ice Age. For ages they have rested at the place where they were left after some terrible convulsion. At least some of them have. Others - smaller than the “Wishing Stone” - have been removed; some, were broken up by some people at Cannock. Those who knew of the circumstance and recognised what the boulders were regretted it, but to the great majority there was nothing in it. Probably, when the time comes for the Chase to be cultivated, the “Wishing Stone”, that great boulder will share a similar fate. But it is not necessary to dwell further on the present day view of the “Wishing Stone”. Associated with this monument of many years ago, is a legend that is only a legend after all, but legends have the curious habit of extending a long way back. Story, song, and legend, took the place of books and newspapers in days of yore. The inhabitants of Cannock Chase at time of the origin of the romance consisted of Foresters and nomad folk. There were bridle ways and even cart ways by which people proceeded from different parts such as from Lichfield to Stafford, or to Wolverhampton and Walsall, but these were of such a character as few people used them. By the side of one of these narrow tracks rests the “Wishing Stone” adjacent to Blake Street/ Way, a well frequented bridle way and renown haunt of highwaymen. The track can hardly be distinguished now, but that it existed is evident, and that it was a favourite road from one point to another, from the junction of roads at the Cross Keys pub (supposed haunt of the highwayman Dick Turpin, albeit a chronological impossibility), through Hednesford and on to Stafford. The daughters of Cannock Chase at the time of the adventure about to be described, and many of the Cavaliers of that day as they passed through, did not hesitate to admire the pretty faces of the daughters of Foresters and others who had their homes on Cannock Chase. It was especially so with one who was the son of a nobleman, and who always, when possible, took the opportunity of hunting on Cannock Chase. At least, this is what he told his friends. But hunting the stag was not his forte. He had been attracted by one of the daughters of Cannock Chase. He was familiar with the customs of the King’s Court and one who was ready, when necessary, to draw his sword for his King, and his services were sought for, but he had another attraction, and this was found at the “Wishing Stone” which the Chase damsel made “their trysting place.” For months the two had met at this place, although it was a stirring period in England’s Civil War and many Cavaliers and Ironsides passed through Cannock Chase; the sword of the Cavalier who was so often near this great boulder was needed and called for, but the daughter of the Forester was a greater attraction than was the Court of King Charles or the Camp of the Cavaliers. Hence the couple - strictly in secret - met and parted, the one to the Forester's Lodge, the other to the baronial hall of his father miles away. But more stirring times came; the Ironside army from the North marched Southward and the King was at Worcester and the swords of all available men were needed, including, of course, he who would rather have remained near to Cannock Chase. He bade the daughter of the Forester good-bye one day, stating that he was off to war. The month was August, the year 1651. Day after day the maiden visited the stone, wishing each time that her lover would return. He on his part was with the company of Cavaliers who found themselves in the beleaguered City of Worcester. Readers may have read of the fight that took place in and around Worcester in September 1651, and they may have heard of the manner in which King Charles escaped; and they may know that he was hidden at nearby Boscobel House, Moseley Old Hall, and at King's Bromley. At intervals Cavaliers and Roundheads passed through Cannock Chase; and some looked at the maiden as she was seated disconsolate on the “Wishing Stone.” To a chance enquiry none knew of the fate of her lover. She sighed and “wished” that “he” would return. Gossips in the district, they were very few, but such as they were, talked about the girl as she sat on the stone. They thought there was something that induced the girl to visit so frequently the stone and to remain so long at the place. To their questions she would reply to the effect that she wished he would return. Who the ''He" was these simple folk knew not; neither did the Forester father and the mother of the girl, they only guessed. One evening her father missed his daughter and he went to the stone knowing it was the place he would probably find her, and there she lay but there was no “wish” expressed that “he” would return. She had passed to that place where warring and war is not known, her lips blue and still. The local women and gossips speculated whether it was the cold or a broken heart that had finally taken her. A few days later a man with military bearing stopped his horse at the place. A Forester who was passing saluted him. The man asked the Forester a few questions. “Do you mean the girl that used to sit there sir?” the Forester asked, pointing to the stone. The man who had escaped with his life at Worcester replied in the affirmative. “Oh well, she was my daughter,” said the Forester. “She was my sweetheart,” said the Cavalier. “In the churchyard of Cannock we buried her,” replied the Forester, as he wiped a tear from his eye. “Let us proceed thither,” said the Cavalier. They did so and viewed the grave. When there was quietude again in the country the Forester secured a good appointment, the Cavalier ruled in the hall of his fathers, but the simple folk pointed to the huge boulder which they called the “Wishing Stone”, as the demented girl had so frequently expressed the “wish” as she sat there that “he” would return. The “Wishing Stone” remains today where it has rested for centuries; the chief actors in that drama have passed away, but there are descendants of the families who are still in the district. Indeed the ‘grey beard’ who related the legend claimed to be a descendent of one of the Foresters who years ago patrolled what was indeed a forest. He, however, suggested that now they are called gamekeepers and no longer is the office handed down from sire to son. It is said that on a moonlit night, a woman carrying a rose can be seen near to the “Wishing Stone”. Barely audible, a melancholy, exhaled sigh can sometimes be heard: “I wish”. Or is it the wind stirring the dry leaves and branches along the lane?