``She was unique and the world is a better place for having known her,'' he said in a published tribute. He revealed his final words to her were: ``You're up on your beautiful Appaloosa stallion; it's a fine spring day, we're riding through the woods. The bluebells are all out, and the sky is clear blue''.

He said, ``I had barely got to the end of the sentence when she closed her eyes and gently slipped away.'' Paul finished with a last wish to his wife of 29 years, ``I love you, Linda.''

Linda, 56, died on Friday at the couple's home in Santa Barbara, California. British newspapers reported yesterday that Paul scattered the ashes of his wife in the pastures and woodlands she loved at the family farm in southern England. The Times said McCartney had Linda cremated in a brief, secret ceremony just hours after her death.

``Only Sir Paul andtheir four children were present after they decided not to tell even close family and friends until after the funeral,'' the newspaper said. The Mirror said McCartney and his children flew back to Britain in a chartered private aircraft on Saturday carrying the ashes in an urn. ``They enjoyed the best days of their lives at their farm. It's where Linda wanted to be laid to rest,'' The Mirror quoted an unidentified family friend as saying.