About Ratcatcher's Day

DESCRIPTION:

Ratcatcher's Day commemorates the disappearance of 130 children on July 22, 1376, in Hamelin, Germany, and has ties to the story of the Pied Piper through a poem.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin (Rattenfänger von Hameln in German) was said to live during the 13th & 14th centuries; bubonic plague (The Black Death) haunted Europe, and its source was rats. As a ratcatcher in Hamelin, his services would have been in great demand.

The word "pied" means multi-colored clothing, and this particular ratcatcher is said to have lured rats from their hiding places with music from his pipe, a simple wind instrument that looks like a flute. Of course, if people refused to pay him, he used the music from his magical flute to lure the town's children away. Lore stated that 130 children disappeared in 1284 AD.

Or did they?

In a poem by Robert Browning, the date of the children disappearing is July 22, 1376, 92 years later. Ratcatcher's Day marks the poem's date, and Pied Piper Day marks the Hamelin date of 1284. Both are on the calendar.

The city of Hamelin is visited by thousands of people a day during the summer months, with the Pied Piper being the reason. In 2013 the city officially requested UNESCO recognize the city and its Pied Piper as intangible cultural heritage.

The Pied Piper legend endures in one form or another in the writings of Johan Wolfgang von Goethe, the Brothers Grimm, Robert Browning, Terry Pratchett, and others.

And if the painting in the header image looks familiar, and you've been to New York City's St. Regis Hotel, you are right. Parrish also painted Old King Cole.