An 'they have a house, greater than e'er a first-rater.    From Wordnik.com.  [Cawsand Bay] Reference

"Oh, you can speak it well enough," replied Ned, as our friend said this in "Pijin English," implying that although he could manage a little of our language he was not a first-rater at it.    From Wordnik.com.  [Crown and Anchor Under the Pen'ant] Reference

From Songs of the Sea, Hugill note: Hugill dates this as early 18th century, based on Hal's wardrobe and the use of the obsolete term "first-rater" Cawsand Bay was a popular rendezvous for the British Navy.    From Wordnik.com.  [Cawsand Bay] Reference

I'm going to be a first-rater; and don't you be discouraged.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Christian Slave: A Drama] Reference

But maybe in this other game I could git to be a first-rater.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Wrong Twin] Reference

In the Army my vanity leads me to believe I was a first-rater.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Mountebank] Reference

"That's what's said of every first-rater till he gets his chance.".    From Wordnik.com.  [Out of the Primitive] Reference

But he's a first-rater, an 'I, for one, will be sorry to lose him.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Wheel O' Fortune] Reference

"Ah, he's a first-rater," observed Willie, with a look of enthusiasm.    From Wordnik.com.  [Fighting the Flames] Reference

That sausage you toasted was his, and he was in all respects a first-rater.    From Wordnik.com.  [Great Expectations] Reference

My eye -- was that the trick of a lubber, or of a thorough-going first-rater?.    From Wordnik.com.  [Varney the vampire; or, The feast of blood. Volume 2] Reference

He had deemed the TRANSCONTINENTAL a first-rater, and it paid a cent for ten words.    From Wordnik.com.  [Chapter 26] Reference

"That's a first-rater," called out Nat, and Daisy retired, pleased with the praise of her friend.    From Wordnik.com.  [Little Men] Reference

"So it is -- never mind, we can make another -- there's a tree that will make a first-rater down in the hollow, d'ye see it, Nell?".    From Wordnik.com.  [Silver Lake] Reference

"He'd make a first-rater if he was taught," said Dan, unable to withhold the praise from the boy who made it necessary for him to do his best.    From Wordnik.com.  [Little Men] Reference

Compared to the vicinity of a first-rater in full blow, the inside of a menagerie at feeding-time would be a paradise of tranquillity and repose.    From Wordnik.com.  [Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 430 Volume 17, New Series, March 27, 1852] Reference

He is a first-rater -- can do anything, in a wild way, that lies within the power of mortal man, and is an inexhaustible anecdote-teller, in a quiet way.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Young Fur Traders] Reference

She has taken it into her head that she would like to be a "first-rater," as she calls it, and works desperately hard in the prosecution of her new fancy.    From Wordnik.com.  [Station Life in New Zealand] Reference

Temeraire first took on the largest warship of the time, the giant four-decked Spanish first-rater Santisima Trinidad, before being trapped between two French ships, defending the Victory.    From Wordnik.com.  [Home | Mail Online] Reference

"It ain't a real first-rater," the dealer said, "but it ain't bad.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Nebuly Coat] Reference

A first-rater, and couldn't get on without me no how, so I'm willin 'to stop.    From Wordnik.com.  [Shifting Winds A Tough Yarn] Reference

"I'm going to be a first-rater; and don't you be discouraged.    From Wordnik.com.  [Uncle Tom's cabin, or Life among the lowly] Reference

"Nitrate of silver is a first-rater; you can get it at the 'pothecary shops in Richmond.    From Wordnik.com.  [A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States; With Remarks on Their Economy] Reference

I wasn't never a first-rater.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Wrong Twin] Reference

Not a first-rater, but good stuff.    From Wordnik.com.  [The War in the Air] Reference

'He must be a first-rater,' said Sam.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Pickwick Papers] Reference

Another first-rater from John Pilger!.    From Wordnik.com.  [Dissident Voice] Reference

"Sir William Blancove's house is a first-rater.    From Wordnik.com.  [Rhoda Fleming — Complete] Reference