"And then the whole quire hold their lips and loffe,
And waxen in their mirth——"
In Titus Andronicus, Act III. Scene 1,
"Who marks the waxing tide grow wave by wave."
A waxen epitaph may be therefore a long or protracted one, such as a king would expect.
Scene 2. Page 298.
K. Hen. Tell him he hath made a match with such a wrangler,
That all the courts of France will be disturb'd
With chaces.
Dr. Johnson informs us that chace is a term at tennis. It is often, not always, necessary to know more of a term than that it belongs to some particular science. A chace at tennis then is that spot where a ball falls, beyond which the adversary must strike his ball to gain a point or chace. At lawn tennis it is the spot where the ball leaves off rolling. We see therefore why the king has called himself a wrangler.
ACT II.
Page 304.
Chor. And by their hands this grace of kings must die
(If hell and treason hold their promises,)
Ere he take ship for France, and in Southampton.
Linger your patience on; and well digest
The abuse of distance, while we force a play.
The sum is paid; the traitors are agreed;
The king is set from London; and the scene
Is now transported, gentles, to Southampton.