The Pied Piper was the subject of a legend concerning the departure or death of a great number of children from the town of Hamelin in Lower Saxony, Germany during the in the Middle Ages. According to the legend, in 1284, while the town of Hamelin (in Germany) was suffering from a rat infestation, a man dressed in pied clothing appeared, claiming to be a rat-catcher. He promised the mayor a solution for their problem with the rats. The mayor in turn promised to pay him for the removal of the rats. The man accepted, and played a musical pipe to lure the rats with a song into the Weser River, where all but one drowned. Despite his success, the mayor reneged on his promise and refused to pay the rat-catcher the full amount of money. The man left the town angrily, but vowed to return some time