The twenty-third rank of canters, who carry pins, tape, ballads, and obscene books to sell, but live mostly by stealing. Cant.
Definition taken from The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, originally by Francis Grose.
Bawd * Bawdy-house BottleNathan Bailey's 1736 Dictionary of canting and thieving slang
John S. Farmer's collection of canting songs and slang rhymes