In my book, The Sgt. Pepper Code, I talk about a hidden code
that appears to have been embedded into the lyrics of the song ‘She’s Leaving
Home’ that I christened The Y Code.
The code can be revealed thusly.
Firstly, take a pencil and paper and, starting at the
beginning of the song lyrics, search for the letter Y. If you then go back
three letters from each Y, and jot down that letter, you will begin to reveal the
hidden code.
Example: "Wedne(s)daY morning at five o'clock as th(e)
daY begins. Sile(n)tlY closing her bedroom door. Leaving the note that she
hoped woul(d) saY more. She goes downstairs to the kitchen clutching her
handkerchief. Qui(e)tlY turning the backdoor(r) keY".
SENDER.
Ok, that doesn’t mean too much, so let us carry on with this
experiment, ignoring any lyrics in brackets, and we will also find ...
MARY.
SENDER MARY.
So, could this be a reference to Paul’s mother Mary?
Well, it is interesting to note that Mrs. McCartney had some
interesting relatives, one of whom, her uncle, invented the gas meter – the
original meter maid? – whilst another, Paul’s cousin, Bert Danher was a famous
creator of crosswords.
It appears a Beatle had a code maker in the family?
According to Danher’s obituary in the Daily Telegraph he was the “greatest
inventor of anagrams” and “He particularly enjoyed linking two clues together
so that the solutions created a homophone; thus the clues
"fairy-like" and "ghost" made "elfin" and
"spectre", or "botanical gardens" and "beast"
made "Kew" and "brute”.
 |
| Bert Danher |
Perhaps the most telling tribute is “Danher also liked to
signal his authorship in cryptic puzzles by beginning 1 Across with a musical
clue”.
Ok, so I exaggerated the title a little for effect, call it
poetic licence, but Cousin Bert the code maker doesn’t have quite the same
ring!
Sources:
