Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Rascal

Rascal (ras"kal) , noun

[Old English rascaille rabble, probably from an Old French racaille, French racaille the rabble, rubbish, probably akin to French racler to scrape, (assumed) Late Latin rasiculare, rasicare, from Latin radere, rasum. See Rase, v.]

1.
One of the rabble; a low, common sort of person or creature; collectively, the rabble; the common herd; also, a lean, ill-conditioned beast, esp. a deer. [Obsolete]
He smote of the people seventy men, and fifty thousand of the rascal. — Wyclif (1 Kings [1 Samuel] vi. 19)
Poor men alone? No, no; the noblest deer hath them [horns] as huge as the rascal. — Shakespeare
2.
A mean, trickish fellow; a base, dishonest person; a rogue; a scoundrel; a trickster.
For I have sense to serve my turn in store, And he's a rascal who pretends to more. — Dryden

Rascal , adjective

Of or pertaining to the common herd or common people; low; mean; base.
The rascal many. — Spencer
The rascal people. — Shakespeare
While she called me rascal fiddler. — Shakespeare