The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word ASSYRIAN
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
A
S
S
Y
R
I
A
N
More clues leading to the result ASSYRIAN
- Old countryman, chap with ship in Scottish port
- Like an old civilisation rains, say, destroyed
- Old person says ‘rain dances’
- Fool Year 1 with an Aramaic dialect
- One Middle-Eastern person‘s like another
- Like modern subject from old kingdom
- Beast set up insubstantial northern empire of old
- Old ME resident’s like current one
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Old countryman" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case old countryman = assyrian.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.