The old chaps in the country (5)
I believe the answer is:
yemen
'the country' is the definition.
(Yemen is an example)
'the old chaps' is the wordplay.
'the old' becomes 'ye' (resembles a historical spelling of 'the').
'chaps' becomes 'men' (chap can mean a man).
'ye'+'men'='YEMEN'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for yemen that I've seen before include "Arab state" , "Republic sited on the SW corner of Arabia" , "Aden is found here" , "Country bordering Oman" , "Republic by the Red Sea" .)