'Well if it isn't the devil himself'...
I remember hearing this one from dear ole Mom, and she was born in 1925. Similar, innocent Phrases - not at all literal - were 'look what the Cat dragged in', and 'now, there's a real piece of work'. You hear these in old b/w Movies.
The cadence of the Phrase suggests to me that it's an old Irish Saying. The inference was that the Person was full of mischief, or 'a real Character'.
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