Harold Raeburn

Harold Andrew Raeburn (21 July 1865 – 21 December 1926) was a Scottish mountaineer.

Life

Raeburn was born in 1865 at 12 Grange Loan, Edinburgh. His father William Raeburn, a brewer, married Jessie Ramsay in 1849. Harold Raeburn was their fourth son, and he grew up to enter his father's occupation as a brewer.He died in Edinburgh, on 21 December 1926, and was buried in Warriston Cemetery, Edinburgh.

Mountaineering

Scotland

It is not documented how or why Raeburn began climbing. Living under Edinburgh's Salisbury Crags and possessing a wiry, athletic build he soon adapted to the vertical world of rock and ice.

As to his character, he very obviously possessed the necessary determination and drive of any ambitious and hard mountaineer; Lord Mackay provided a good description of Raeburn, writing that he was "... physically and mentally hard as nails, trained by solitary sea-cliff climbing after birds’ haunts, he was certain, unyielding and concise in every movement, both mental and physical." Mackay went on to remark that Raeburn had a capacity of grip that was astonishing: "He was possessed of strong muscular fingers that could press firmly and in a straight downward contact upon the very smallest hold."

Raeburn remained a bachelor all his life, occasionally climbing with women, including his sister Ruth, herself an expert climber. The Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) was founded in 1889 and Raeburn joined in 1896. Within a few years he became its...
Read More