How rhyming pegs lock in number-order facts instantly

Imagine a set of clothespins, each labeled by rhyme: bun, shoe, tree, door—simple triggers for ten slots in your mind. John Sambrook popularized the rhyming peg system in the 19th century, but it’s really a clever use of associative chaining. You already know the rhymes, so you only need to link each new item to its peg. It’s like having ten numbered hooks ready for any data you hang on them.

One day you decide to learn the “ten emotions of power.” You picture a warm heart rising from a bun, curious cats climbing a tree, a hive exploding with determination records, and so on. By loading each emotion onto its peg, you’ve created a scaffold—and when you recall, you simply run through your bun, shoe, and tree.

Research on associative memory shows that when two concepts are strongly linked during encoding, retrieval speed and accuracy skyrocket. You’re effectively bypassing working memory’s limits by using a pre-built scaffold in your long-term store.

As you master this, you can adapt dozens of peg lists—months, timeslots, steps in a process. In memory competitions, champions recite hundreds of digits or word pairs by chaining multiple peg lists seamlessly into one giant scaffold.

First, recite your ten rhymes until they’re second nature. Next, take the five or ten items you need right now and mentally drape each on its matching peg. Then walk the sequence in your mind, seeing each image vividly. Finally, jump to random pegs and name each item. You’ll feel how the scaffold holds everything steady. Try it this afternoon.