Green’s Dictionary of Slang

many, a great deal.

1834		Sun (N.Y.) 2 Jan. 2/2: Pris.[oner] -- [We heard] several curious kind of expressions made bags of fun for us.
c.1850		F.M. Whitcher Widow Bedott Papers (1883) 63: Ax sister Bedott, she knows all about poitry, writes bags on’t.
1919		W.H. Downing Digger Dialects 9: bags — Plenty; a large number.
1925		L. Doyle Dear Ducks 118: It was let to a judge’s widow from India, with bags of money.
1929		J.B. Priestley Good Companions 540: There’s bags of money in it, as you know, bags and bags.
1938		J. Curtis They Drive by Night 43: There’s bags of stuff on the road.
1948		K. Williams Diaries 18 Sept. 33: Great success. Bags of bouquets arriving over the footlights etc.
1957		G. Kersh Fowlers End (2001) 212: You got bags o’ time. I’ll walk you to the terminus and we’ll ’ave a cuppa.
1962		A. Wesker Chips with Everything I i: We ’ad bags o’ fun, bags o’ it.
1973		B.S. Johnson All Bull 151: If ever I detested a concept, it was bags of swank, but I got to apply it.
1980		J. McClure Spike Island (1981) 53: Yes, you get bags of scuffles.
1981		W. Boyd Good Man in Africa 77: ‘Very interesting few months ahead, Morgan, very. Bags to discuss’.
1993		I. Welsh Trainspotting 286: Bags ay loot for a cat that age.
2000		N. Griffiths Grits 9: As well as bags of booze they all brought up crisps n stuff.