Ratcatcher’s Day

Forget About Your Ghostbusters, Check This Out…

Happy Ratcatcher’s Day! Unless you are one of the many people who celebrates Ratcatcher’s Day on June 26th. In which case I hope you had a delightful Ratcatcher’s Day. A month ago. So why do we have two dates to celebrate the catchers of rats? The answer is not as exciting as you might imagine. It all revolves around the famed Pied Piper who, in the well-trod story, lured away the children of Hamelin after being stiffed by the mayor over his rodent removal fees.

The Brother’s Grimm said it all went down on June 26th. Robert Browning, in his poem covering the same topic, said today.So are you a Grimm person or more of a Browning type? The decision is entirely up to you. And while the story of the piper has been repeated many times in tale and fable, something definitely did happen to the children of Hamelin in the 13th Century. It’s just that no one knows what. The earliest entry in the town’s chronicle, dated 1384 states, "It is 100 years since our children left.” Creepy.