the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
n. Old rope or iron chains wound around a cable. See keckle, v. t.
The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
n. Nautical, the material used to keckle a cable.
Word Usage
"A cock pheasant made a most admired stir and keckling in seeing his wife and brood to roost on the branches of one of King James's age-old Scotch firs."