Eleanor Rigby’s Grave

It will never be fully established how direct the link was between this gravestone and the Beatles’ classic. Although he and John were visitors to the churchyard and met mere feet from this spot, Paul McCartney has said the apparent coincidence could in fact be a concoction of his subliminal self. Then again, how can you believe him? He thought writing about the Mull of Kintyre was a nifty idea.
To be fair, I visited this boneyard a while back just for something to do and was struck by how many of the stones contain the names ‘Eleanor’ or ‘Rigby’ in some permutation or other. I’d be surprised if Macca didn’t accidentally call his mum Ellie after coming here.
The real Eleanor Rigby was a scullery maid who died 364 days before Lennon was born and almost certainly did not keep her face in a jar by the door. Standing looking at the patch were her bones now rest makes you wonder whether you’ll ever posthumously be part of a famous song… I mean ones you haven’t just penned yourself because that’s almost as sad as looking at a stranger’s grave.