Old slate markers belonging to their long-dead ancestors had been stolen, the story went, and were on display in a major Massachusetts museum.

Smoke coiled about it, and her, so that she could have been a girl again, or infinitely old; a long-dead ancestor keeping care of the still-living.

There were too many creepy corners and badly lit corridors peopled with portraits of long-dead ancestors whose eyes followed her unnervingly.

His anger at those long-dead ancestors remained, as he chose a tree to climb, looking for one he had not used before.

I can't for the life of me imagine why our long-dead ancestors left this fruitful and beautiful continent for the colder, duller North, but I assume that they had good reasons.

A spirit voice claiming to be her long-dead ancestor warns her of the treachery, and she escapes again, this time after stealing money from the House treasury.

Auditory disturbances follow, during which long-dead ancestors appear and admonish the youngsters.

It was one of many rituals remembered and never neglected since time before time: the long-dead ancestors handing on, through the living, their wisdom to the newborn.

GENEALOGY sites have long helped their customers reconnect with long-dead ancestors.

The statuettes had been left by a long-dead ancestor who was a sailor, and from such modest roots, she began the collection.