Mr Gnome recently dropped in at the National Museum of Scotland to visit the Isle of Lewis chess figures.Probably created in Norway in the twelfth century, the figures were discovered on the Isle of Lewis in 1831.
The compactness of the design (they are carved from walrus ivory) and the extraordinary facial expressions intrigue and inspire.
People of the HB's generation probably know them best as the inspiration for the much-loved characters in the stories of Noggin the Nog.
