Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. blood; thus as adj. bloody.

1853		N.Y. Clipper 9 July 1/6: Brown let go both hands [...] drawing a profuse supply of the cochineal dye.
1860		Bell’s Life in Sydney 11 Feb. 4/2: To see the ‘carmine’ or the ‘cochineal’ extracted from the human subject, either by the friendly fist of a brother pugilist or by the drummer’s angry lash, is to many persons horrible.
1861		Bell’s Life in Sydney 10 Aug. 3/3: What’s that to you, you cochineal wretch?
1864		H.D. Miles Tom Sayers 32: Nat jobbed him on the nozzle, again disturbing the cochineal.

2. red wine.

1899–1900

C.L. Cullen Tales of the Ex-Tanks 195: I began nibbling at the red Chianti of California [...] I found it pretty hard to keep at my stunt on the merry-go-round [...] after I got started on the California cochineal.