chape

It was probably 'the metal chape or tag fixed to the end of a girdle or strap,' viz.

Ah, thin, just a chape deal coffin, shure—wid a few archangels on the lid.

They must run a chape little thing to the Dargle, about two miles away, along the roadside, just as Balfour showed them the way.

I saw a scabbard in Joló, which had a pearl as large as a musket-ball at the end of the chape.

The chape was the only protection against bad weather at a period when umbrellas and covered carriages were unknown.