Tell him, he hath made a match with such a wrangler,
That all the courts of France will be disturb'd
With chaces....

And tell the pleasant prince,--this mock of his
Hath turn'd his balls to gun stones;[145] and his soul
Shall stand sore charged for the wasteful vengeance
That shall fly with them:"

_Henry the Fifth_, Act I. Scene II.

[Footnote 145: Thus Lydgate, _infra_,

"For they shall play with Harflete,
A game at tynes, as y wene,
Mine engynes that bethe so kene
They shall be sett besyde this hill,
Over all Harflew that they may sene
For to loke if they play well;
Go we to game be Godys grace,
Myne children ben redy everych on
Every greet gonne that there was,
In his mouth he hadde a ston."

But Shakspeare's expressions are still more similar to those of an
inedited Chronicler of the period: "And whan the kyng had hard ther
wordis and the answere of the dolphynne, he was wondre sore agreved
and right evell assayd towarde the Frensshmen, and toward the kyng and
the Dolphynne, and thought to avenge hym upon them as sone as Good
wold send hym grace and myght, and anon lette make tenys ballis for
the Dolpynne in all the hast that they myght be made; _and they were
grete gonne stones for the Dolpynne to play wythall_." _Cottonian
MSS._ _Claudius_ A. viii.]

But besides the historical information with which the poem abounds,
and which is corroborated by the best authorities, it cannot fail to
be considered of much interest, from the description of the
magnificent reception of the king into London, after his return from
France.

A POEM BY JOHN LYDGATE, MONK OF BURY, DESCRIBING THE EXPEDITION OF
HENRY THE FIFTH INTO FRANCE IN 1415, THE BATTLE OF AGINCOURT, AND THE
KING'S RECEPTION INTO LONDON ON HIS RETURN.

[_Harl. MSS._ 565.]

God that all this world gan make
And dyed for us on a tre,
Save Ingelond for Mary sake,
Sothfast God in Trinyte;
And kepe oure kyng that is so free,
That is gracious and good with all,
And graunt hym evermore the gree,
Curteys Crist oure kynge ryall.

Oure kyng sente into France ful rathe,
Hys bassatours bothe faire and free;
His owne right for to have,
That is, Gyan and Normande;
He bad delyvre that his schulde be,
All that oughte kyng Edward,
Or ellys tell hym certeynle,
He itt gette with dynt of swerd.