Lyric discussion by airwolf queen 

Cover art for Quay Cur lyrics by Fiery Furnaces, The

a killick is a "leading seaman in the British navy" according to http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-kil1.htm.

"duke" is slang for anal sex (a very likely activity for a sailor)

@Airwolf queen, could you please provide a source for 'Duke' meaning having buttsex, because I know several people who think that they are the shit for having people call them duke and it would be funny for me to inform them about that little bit of info.