The Peg System works because we associate a number with a rhyming word, eg 8 and “gate”, 2 and “glue”. The same principle holds true for much more complex pieces of information. So rhymes help us remember that “In fourteen hundred and eighty two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue” (and discovered America); that “i before e, except after c” (for spelling words like “believe” and “receipt”); and that “30 days hath September, April, June and November…” (for remembering the days of the months).