Paul McCartney spends time with Linda Eastman in Scotland

In mid-August 1968, Paul McCartney invited Linda Eastman to visit him in London. Linda travelled to London, leaving Heather, her daughter from a previous marriage, in New York and arriving in late September.

On October 20, 1968, Paul and Linda flew to New York for a few days. On October 25, 1968, Paul and Linda visited Liverpool. A comment on the blog “Meet the Beatles for Real” suggests the following timeline for the days after this visit:

Paul, Linda, and Neil made a couple back and forth trips to NYC. Paul & Linda were there from the 20th to the 23rd. They came back & then they & Neil flew back to NYC on the 27th. On the 30th they flew to Jamaica and then came back to London on the 1st of November. They spent some time after that in Scotland.

From Meet the Beatles for Real: Paul returns to the Cavern 1968

On November 1, Paul and Linda returned from New York with Linda’s daughter, Heather. By November 5, they had travelled to Scotland, with a stopover in Liverpool, to spend time at High Park Farm, owned by Paul.

According to the book “Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now” by Barry Miles, Paul wrote “Her Majesty” in Scotland. Tony Macarthur, a Radio Luxembourg disc jockey, reported that Paul played the song for him during an interview on November 20, 1968. Therefore, it is probable that the song concluding the “Abbey Road” album was written during that stay in Scotland.

In subsequent years, particularly following the Beatles’ split, Paul, Linda, and their family would frequently visit High Park Farm.

It is not precisely known when Paul, Linda and Heather returned from Scotland, but Paul spent time in November 1968 to produce Mary Hopkin’s debut album, “Postcard”.

Compared to London standards, the farmhouse was very rural and primitive. Furniture was sparse and littered round the place. Paul had made a couch from potato boxes and sacks, which was quite comfortable. But the house inside is a bit dingy and Paul felt he might make bigger windows. He might extend the building, too, as there is only a small sitting-room, a living room-kitchen, a bedroom and wc.

From New Musical Express – June 1, 1968 – see full article

Linda said, “We could do this place up!” And I’d never thought of that, I thought it just stayed how you bought it. I just wasn’t enterprising enough to actually think, We could clean this place up! Linda really turned me on to it. I quite liked it before, I liked its isolation and I liked the privacy and the end-of-the-world remoteness compared to a city.

Paul McCartney – From “Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now” by Barry Miles, 1997

PAUL ON HOLIDAY WITH HIS NEW GIRL FRIEND

BEATLE Paul McCartney has arrived at his Scottish farm hide-out for a holiday with a new girlfriend, American photographer Linda Eastman. They met in New York and two months ago she went to London to work on a new Beatles album.

The last time Paul was at High Park Farm, near Campbeltown, he was with actress Jane Asher. That was last May. Since then they have split up and Paul’s name has been linked with Mary Hopkin, the Welsh pop singer sponsored by the Beatles company.

Yesterday, Paul and Linda went shopping in Campbeltown with Linda’s five-year-old daughter.

From Daily Record – November 8, 1968

Beatle Paul flies out

Beatle Paul McCartney (above) flew out of Liverpool Airport yesterday afternoon for Scotland after visiting relatives in the city. Accompanied by a blonde-haired girl, a young American child, aged about five, another man and two dogs, he would not say where he was going.

“It’s just a private trip with friends — No comment and all that,” he said. He would be back, he said in two weeks time to make an L.P. with Mary Hopkins.

And while Paul and his friends sipped glasses of beer, Martha, a giant, long-haired dog, and Eddie, a tiny brown terrier, roamed amiably around the airport lounge.

From Daily Post Merseyside – November 8, 1968

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