hackle /(hăk"k'l)/

1. A comb for dressing flax, raw silk, etc.; a hatchel.
2. Any flimsy substance unspun, as raw silk.
3. One of the peculiar, long, narrow feathers on the neck of fowls, most noticeable on the cock, -- often used in making artificial flies; hence, any feather so used.
4. An artificial fly for angling, made of feathers.

imp. & p. p. Hackled; p. pr. & vb. n. Hackling

1. To separate, as the coarse part of flax or hemp from the fine, by drawing it through the teeth of a hackle or hatchel.
2. To tear asunder; to break in pieces.

   The other divisions of the kingdom being hackled and torn to pieces.