In Memory of Irvine Butterfield
(Hill Gangrel, champion of Scottish mountains and MCofS ‘Writer in Residence’)
By Kevin Howett
It is with great sadness that we have to report that Irvine died peacefully about 5.30pm on Tuesday 12th May.
Irvine Butterfield’s name is synonymous with the Scottish mountains because of his book ‘The High Mountains…’ which gained a reputation as ‘The Bible’ for hill walkers. What is probably less known to his readers is his support of the Mountaineering Council spanning some 38 years; in fact before it was formed!
Irvine was there at the embryonic stage of the MCofS, and his association started through his working with Sandy Cousins (SMC) when the Association of Scottish Climbing Clubs broke away from the BMC and formed its own representative body – the MCofS. Irvine (Secretary to the MBA at the time) felt there was a need for a body that represented individual hill walkers as well as Scottish Clubs and he became an early Individual Member of the newly born MCofS.
I first met him not long after I started as National Officer in 1989 when he was only too pleased to volunteer to spend days stuffing hundreds of MCofS magazines into envelopes for posting to members, from a tiny room in my flat in Crieff which acted as the MCofS headquarters at the time!
He realised that the MCofS needed its own office as it was growing fast and he was instrumental in gaining our first dedicated headquarters in Perth, at a rental we could afford, just as we took on secretarial assistance (Lorraine Nicholson). Irvine continued to help out in the office as a volunteer on a weekly basis. Nothing was too much trouble for him from taking calls, stuffing envelopes to writing letters. He also volunteered numerous slide shows in aid of raising funds for the MCofS, and has continued to support us in every event he has been involved in.
After a while he was even employed on a part time basis as administration assistant, although this just meant we saw him every day and he volunteered more than he was paid for! He was offered the full time post when Lorraine moved on, but declined as he wished to retire and enjoy the hills.
That did not quite happen, as he soon started submitting articles on a regular basis for the then newly developing Scottish Mountaineer magazine, never wanting payment. Early issues saw use of many of his expansive library photos and we relied on this even up to the current edition. But more than this, Irvine brought a certain style to the magazine with his writing on mountains and walkers’ exploits. His almost encyclopaedic knowledge of Scottish mountains and the people who inhabited/inhabit them allowed him to write a series of ‘Walking Wild’ features, and most recently a series on mountain folk.
He left us a substantial library of his articles waiting to be published on everything from bothies to ghost stories to missing mountains (!) and he was rightly regarded as the MCofS’s ‘Writer in Residence’.
This knowledge also allowed him to write the history of the MCofS for our 25th Anniversary in 1995, which only recently was given a wider audience, when it was serialised in the magazine.
Irvine continued to help out in the office when called upon, and we saw him regularly for banter and ideas, and it’s impossible to put a figure on his support for the magazine which remained a high priority for him and added greatly to the quality.
He latterly volunteered to be on the Member Services Committee, the first time he came out of the background to be a member of an MCofS committee, and it was good to hear his Yorkshire accent around the office on a regular basis again over the last few years, indeed a day without Irvine in the office seemed somewhat lacking.
We will miss his knowledge, enthusiasm, comradeship and big heart, but he left a great legacy of work and influence that will never be forgotten.
Irvine’s Legacy:
Walking Club
- Irvine was one of the founding members of the Crochallan Mountaineering club.
- He was designated as lifelong President of the club!
MCofS
- He was a founder member of the MCofS in 1970 through his association with Sandy Cousins, who became the first Secretary of the MCofS.
- Membership Number 15 – one of the very first individual members.
- Has worked behind the scenes as a volunteer ever since.
- He has helped MCofS in negotiations with other bodies in developing initiatives including bunkhouses, walking festivals, Scottish Tourist Board etc.
- He Gathered Bunkhouse accommodation information for use in the MCofS and kept it up to date.
- He wrote an Information Sheet on Hills (Munros and Corbetts) for sale by MCofS and now available as a definitive Munro resource on the website.
- Has worked with MCofS and Harvey Maps (as a volunteer) on the Scottish maps of the new British Mountain Map Series.
- He joined the MCofS Executive in 2006.
- He was an Honorary member of the MCofS (2007).
Mountain Bothies Association
- He was involved in the set up of the association and a volunteer for many years.
- He undertook a period of Office as Secretary.
- Irvine undertook research of all possible ‘shelters’ across Scotland for the MBA which formed the basis of future development.
- He retained an involvement with grass-roots bothy development after leaving MBA (e.g. Bob Scott’s Bothy rebuild).
Wild Land Group
- Irvine was a founding Member of the SWLG.
- He was its chairman for some years.
Friends of the Ochil’s
- Irvine was one of the first members of the Friends.
- He was granted Honorary Membership.
JMT
- He was a founder member of the JMT.
- He undertook a period of office as Director on the Board of JMT.
- He was involved in the JMT Award for young people.
- His contacts in the whisky business meant he had a one-off Malt Whisky made for a promotional event (the Everest Summit Whisky).
Perthshire Alliance for the Real Cairngorms
- He was a volunteer on the Alliance from the start and was instrumental in supplying information in support of the local communities such as Blair Atholl with whom he had a close association.
- He has written about the ideas of the expanded Cairngorms NP.
- He organised local events in Blair Atholl to highlight the alliance (e.g. collection of photography of the cairngorms and art display).
- His local contacts in the Council and with local MSP’s helped this cause immensely.
The Munro Society
- Irvine was elected as the first President of the newly formed Society.
The Year of the Mountains
- Irvine sat as a volunteer on the steering committee that organised celebrations of the International Year of the Mountains.
- He organised numerous events for the celebration year.
Professional Life
- Irvine worked for Customs and Excise dealing with the Whisky industry in Scotland from 1960 till he retired.
Author
Irvine wrote the following:
- Dibidil: A Hebridean Adventure (1972).
- A Survey of Shelters in Remote Mountain areas of the Scottish Highlands (1979).
- The High Mountains of Britain and Ireland (1986) - the bible for hill goers for Munro style hills.
- The High Mountains Companion (1987).
- A Munroists Log (1992).
- The Magic of the Munros (1999) - a large format picture book with historical narrative nominated for the British Illustrated Book of the Year Award 1999.
- The Call of the Corbetts (2000) - a large format picture book with historical narrative.
- The Munro Almanac (2000).
- High Mountains 2 (for Corbett style hills – completed but never published).
Irvine has contributed to:
- 100 Best Walks in Scotland by Ralph Storer.
- Big Walks, Wild Walks, Classic Walks by Richard Gilbert.
Irvine had Associations with:
- He worked with local map maker, Harvey Maps, for many years and has helped them with publicity and back-cover information for their unique maps, has acted as a broker in building up a partnership with MCofS which continues to this day.
- He worked with MCofS and Visit Scotland to write a series of articles on walking and general interest in 8 different areas of Scotland, published in Scottish Mountaineer as ‘Walking Wild’ and reproduced on the both the MCofS and visitscotland website.
- He contributed (free of charge) numerous articles to MCofS Scottish Mountaineer over a period of 15 years.
- He wrote the History of the MCofS Pre 1970 to 1995, published as a series in Scottish Mountaineer 2007 – 2008.
The Outdoor Writer’s Guild:
- Irvine was a member of the Outdoor Writers Guild (OWG) for many years.
- He was awarded the OWG’s prestigious Golden Eagle Award (2000).
Also see an appreciation from Munro Adict Dave Hewitt HERE