PATTER  , properly a

slang word for the secret or " cant " language used by beggars, thieves, gipsies, &c., hence the fluent plausible talk that a cheap-jack employs to pass off his goods, or a conjuror to cover up his tricks . It is thus used of any rapid manner of talking, and of a " patter-song," in which a very large number of words have to be sung at high speed to fit them to the music . The word, though in some of its senses affected by patter," to make a series of rapid strokes or pats, as of rain-drops, is derived from the quick, mechanical repetition of the Paternoster, or Lord's Prayer .