The Old North, still alive as memory even in the fourteenth centuryI have been redirected recently to return to the poetry of Ap Gwilym, the Welsh poet that stands within a European context as much as in a Cymric one. (I am thinking of the work of Chotzen). My reference is to the first few poems of Dafydd Ap Gwilym of the collection Gwaith Dafydd ap Gwilym by Thomas Parry.This places the poet in the traditional fabric of the concerns of 12th and 13th century bardic verse. Among these poems are the ones to Ifor Hael. I shall not be concerned with the historical accuracy of Ifors existence but point to old notions held as best as I am able.It points to the interdependence of poet and patron, their mutual co-existence. As in Taliesin, the patron is unrivalled and seen as a model of excellence. Ifor Hael is compared to the generosity of Nudd, Rhydderch and Mordaf, the three great nobles of Britain. What I find interesting is that Ap Gwilym compares Ifors home to that of neuadd reged ands almost seems to put himself in the role of another Taliesin.O nawdd rugl, neuadd regedBendith Taliesin wingostA bery byth heb air bostA flowing protection, the hall of Rheged, Taliesins blessing, expended on wine will ever endure without a word of boast.Reward from Ifor puts Ap Gwilym into recollection of the Old North as a poetic reference. In the marwnad to Llywelyn we find another reference.Deifr helgud- one who harasses the men of Deira.So Dafydds audience would have been familiar with the transmitted notions of the glory of the Old North, its old concepts of praise poetry, perhaps distant but still somehow preserved among poets, as memory.Ap Gwilym moved on to perfect the cywydd, championing both cywyddau mawl and cywyddau serch, the latter perhaps forming something of a more personal nature though not losing the tint of praise poetry(How far does something remain personal once it becomes public anyway?). The praise poetry shifted from patron to desired lover.It is apparent that even at the time of Ap Gwilym (fourteenth century) the Old North remained as a nod to past glory.Marwnad-an elegy, a lamentCywydd mawl- a cywydd in praise of a patronCywydd serch- a cywydd in praise of a lover cf. RhiengerddCywydd-couplets of seven syllables used within a system of cynghanedd(I do not propose to explain that here). An example is:Gwelais long ar y glas liYn y gwyll yn ymgolli