in times past

“Tribute is paid to all grandmothers, great-grandmothers, mothers and traditional healers who in times past could cure everything from a broken heart to clinical illnesses with the help of herbs, flowers, bark, etc.”

Waking in the middle of the night was common, if not the norm, in western preindustrial cultures, according to Roger Ekirch, a professor of history at Virginia Tech whose research into segmented sleep became the basis for his book, At Day's Close: Night in Times Past.

And it’s true he has changed: In times past, even referring to his narcissism might have earned the therapist a trip to the guano workings.

"Families rose to urinate, smoke tobacco, and even visit close neighbors," Ekirch wrote in his book, "At Day's Close: Night in Times Past."

In times past Ireland would have been nervous after losing Sexton so early in a game of such magnitude, where the home side were aiming to end a run of three straight defeats by Les Bleus.