Definition of "rotter"

Calvin could be anywhere in this zoo. I hope he at least has the sense to stay put, wherever he is. Where would the little rotter go if he was lost and separated from his stuffed toy?

1988 July 26, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes (comic)

Some Johnny with brains produces a hypothesis. Everybody calls him a rotter at first. But he remains calm in the face of opprobrium.

1908 August, George A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter VII, in Spanish Gold, 2nd edition, London: Methuen & Co. […], published September 1908, page 76