Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to pay a social visit; thus shinning n.

1838		N.Y. Daily Express 1 Jan. 2/1: Young men ‘shin’ (Wall street lingo) from house to house, as briskly as in Wall street.
1882		G.A. Sala in Living London (1883) Mar. 77: ‘Shinning’ is used in the States to express the act of walking as well as of climbing.

2. (also shin it) to walk off.

1838		J.C. Neal Charcoal Sketches (1865) 106: ‘Shin it, good man!’ ejaculated a good-natured urchin; ‘shin it as well as you know how!’.
c.1850		Duncombe New and Improved Flash Dict. n.p.: Shin to neglect; to desert.
1873		Sl. Dict. 286: Shin an Americanism for walking. ‘I’m tired of shinning around.’.

3. to walk.

1907

News & Courier (Charleston, SC) 14 Apr. 18/2: I shinned by the head barkeep’s stand.