The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word DEVONIAN
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
D
E
V
O
N
I
A
N
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "a rocky time in past" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case a rocky time in past = devonian.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.