To put the cart before the horse; to mention the last part of a story first. To be flogged at the cart’s a-se or tail; persons guilty of petty larceny are frequently sentenced to be tied to the tail of a cart, and whipped by the common executioner, for a certain distance: the degree of severity in the execution is left to the discretion of the executioner, who, it is said, has cats of nine tails of all prices.
Definition taken from The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, originally by Francis Grose.
Carry Witchet * CartingNathan Bailey's 1736 Dictionary of canting and thieving slang
John S. Farmer's collection of canting songs and slang rhymes