Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. famous, celebrated, lit. ‘sung’.

1820

‘Peter Corcoran’ ‘Lines to Philip Samson’ in Fancy 90: Be content that you’ve beat Dolly Smith, and been chaunted.

2. (UK Und.) of the theft of a stolen article, announced in public (by a town crier or similar figure).

1812		Vaux Vocab. of the Flash Lang. in McLachlan (1964) 232: chant: an advertisement in a newspaper or hand-bill; also a paragraph in the newspaper describing any robbery or other recent event; any lost or stolen property, for the recovery of which, or a thief, &C., for whose apprehension a reward is held out by advertisement, are said to be chanted.
1865		Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 34/2: Here we were in a pretty fix — the ‘poke chaunted’ — and we what got it in the town, and no get away.