In the distant past (4,3)
I believe the answer is:
long ago
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">in the distant past</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">(I've seen this in another clue)</span><br/ ><br/ >This is all the clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for long ago that I've seen before include "In the distant past" , "way back" , "in the 26 [PAST]" , "Many moons past" , "Many years past" .)