Somebody paid the Pied Piper. Rat catching was actually a profitable and common job for many centuries, and while these brave souls did not play pipes, they did receive some fame. For example, one man named Jack Black claimed to be Queen Victoria's personal rat catcher.

Others made a killing by selling the rats they caught in gilded cages to wealthy ladies. Yet, the major risk was that getting bit or even simply handling the rats posed a huge risk of infection and disease. Would you risk the bubonic plague to save the city? I wouldn't.

Probably the most gag-inducing job on this list. If you thought your job was bad, how about gathering up night soil for a living? "Night soil" is a lovely euphemism for excrement.

Those tasked with collecting fecal matter went from privy to cesspit to chamber pot, aiming to get enough for crop fertilization. By the late Victorian period, the invention of the sewer system, as well as the realization that human poo is a health risk, put these Midnight Mechanics out of work.

3. Leech collectors

Here is another fun role (not)! Leech collectors were paid to roll up their pant legs and use their flesh as bait for leeches. Once they accumulated enough leeches on their legs, the collectors would pluck off the parasites then sell them to doctors for bloodletting and other medicinal purposes.

Leech collecting was a hectic job. First, the water was cold. Second, the collectors often became ill from blood loss and infections caused by the leeches. Thirdly, by 1900, the only bloodsucking leech in Britain had been decimated by the sheer amount of harvesting done, so the job soon became moot.