Fire and Steel
Fire and Steel Dark Age Re-Enactment Society is an Australian re-enactment society based in Newcastle, NSW re-enacting societies and cultures based in Western Europe during the Dark Ages.
History
The group began as an alternative to the SCA in the Newcastle area primarily to fight with more accurate weapons, and armour in around 1989. Some of Fire and Steel's early membership were ex-SCA or still played with the same. Over time the contact lessened to the point that new members of both clubs had not heard of the other.
Fire and Steel suffered from the early re-enactment "Splitters Disease", splitting once with a number of members leaving to join the Huscarls and again to form Samildanach in the early nineties. Since then, Fire and Steel has remained active and has come to pursue a very anti-expansionist policy.
Fire and Steel once enjoyed a kind of rivalry with The Huscarls but this has since dissipated. Recently a joint Fire and Steel/Huscarl effort has brought archery into the beginnings of general melee at NEMAS' Easter Gathering.
Fire and Steel attend many re-enactor based events in Australia, but are less likely to put on shows for the public.
Activities
Its members are more living history orientated than some, but combat remains an oft enjoyed activity. Fire and Steel like to consider themselves with some humour, but take their re-enactment seriously.
Individual members enjoy:
- arrowmaking and fletching
- shoemaking and other leatherwork
- woodwork
- music (including raucous singing
- historic food
- metalwork
- research
- weaving
- jewellerymaking
Relatively recently, Fire and Steel have added a number of sub-groups to their society.
They include:
- Kingmakers - 15th century soldiers and men at arms as might have been found under the command of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (The Kingmaker) during the Wars of the Roses.
- Colonnell Manus O'Cahan's Regimente of Foote - 17th century Irish soldiers fighting for the Marquis of Montrose during the first English Civil War.
