Money or a valuable token would indicate to the lady's parents (and her peers) that the man was not a serf, slave or beggar, and might serve as identification. The request by the lady in Crow and Pie for some of her rapist's goods may seem mercenary by modern standards, but is quite understandable from a Medieval perspective. Inability to identify the man was generally held to be sufficient proof that the lady had been indiscriminately promiscuous, probably with her social inferiors. This ballad shows the thin line that existed in early Medieval society between seduction and rape in either case the lady was held to be guilty of a misdeed, and her ability to prove the man's identity (and his acknowledgment of the event, even if he did not marry her) was as important from both a legal and moral standpoint as whether or not she gave consent. ( November 2011) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style. This section is written like a personal reflection, personal essay, or argumentative essay that states a Wikipedia editor's personal feelings or presents an original argument about a topic. This ballad contrast with Child Ballad 5, Gil Brenton, where the woman is able to prove the identity of her child's father by the tokens he gave her. The ballad contains a warning to young women to be suspicious, and avoid being raped. Finally, she curses him, saying that she will not despair and will "recouer my harte agayne" (recover my heart again). In each case he refuses her, saying "For now the pye hathe peckyd yow" (clearly a sexual metaphor). She requests first that he marry her, then that he give her "some of your good" (representing either a token of the lover's identity, or the "nurse's fee" for raising a bastard child), and finally that he tell her his name. In each case she repulses him, saying "the crow shall byte yow" (bite you). A man encounters a woman in the woods and tries to seduce her, first offering her his love, then a ring and a velvet purse.
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