Steve, in defense of Percy, a hundred years back or so could well have been for him "ancient." OED, def. 1a: "Of or belonging to time past, former, earlier, bygone. " Initial date is 1490; end date, 1793 (Thomas Jefferson). The editors mark this sense as "archaic." Our familiar sense is 2: "Which existed in, or belonged to, times *long* [OED's emphasis] past, or early in the world's history." Initial date, 1366. So both senses existed simultaneously for centuries.
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