Act III Chorus
[IIIc.1] The well-appointed king] i.e., well furnished with all the necessaries of war.
[IIIc.2] Embark his royalty;] The place where Henry’s army was encamped, at Southampton, is now entirely covered with the sea, and called Westport.
[IIIc.3] ——rivage,] The bank or shore.
[IIIc.4] ——to sternage of this navy;] The stern being the hinder part of the ship, the meaning is, let your minds follow close after the navy. Stern, however, appears to have been anciently synonymous to rudder.
[IIIc.5] ——linstock] The staff to which the match is fixed when ordnance is fired.
[IIIc.6] Or close the wall up with our English dead!] i.e. re-enter the breach you have made, or fill it up with your own dead bodies.
[IIIc.7] Whose blood is fet] To fet is an obsolete word meaning to fetch. That is, “whose blood is derived,” &c. The word is used by Spencer and Ben Jonson.
[IIIc.8] ——like greyhounds in the slips,] Slips are a contrivance of leather, to start two dogs at the same time.
[IIIc.9] ——whom of succour we entreated,] This phraseology was not uncommon in Shakespeare’s time.