Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (Aus.) to become aggressive.

1895

Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 34: Hackle, to show fight.

2. (W.I. Rasta) to bother, to worry, to trouble.

1937		Z.N. Hurston Their Eyes Were Watching God (1998) 54: People always coming and asking for mail at the wrong time. [...] Get her so hackled she’d make the wrong change for stamps.
1942, 1953		cited in Cassidy & LePage Dict. Jam. Eng. (1980).
1991		L.E. Adams Jam. Patois 47: Mek i tan till a maanin, no bada hackle yuself. – Let it wait till morning, don’t worry yourself.