Welcome to 'Gnome Island' - a remote outcrop covered with the garden ornaments but nobody knows how they got there.<br /><br />The garden gnomes live on the rock of Swallow Craig which sits just off Inchcolm Island in the Firth of Forth in Scotland.<br /><br />The first gnomes appeared there in 2010 - with some people speculating they were left by a local fisherman or woman.<br /><br />But other local legends claim the gnomes escaped from a local garden centre attempting to flee up the Forth under the cover of night.<br /><br />Other myths are they were shipwrecked - and have spent the last 14 years on the island.<br /><br />The population is always growing and the isle has since been dubbed "Inchgnome Island".<br /><br />Scott Aston, skipper of the Maid of the Forth, takes up to 100 tourists per day to the island, and says that visitors "crack up" at the sight.<br /><br />"One story behind it is that these gnomes escaped from a garden centre under cover of darkness.<br /><br />"They made a bid for freedom, escaped over to Inchgnome – and they’ve established their own colony out there. That’s how the legend goes.<br /><br />"We hear people on the boat all the time asking, "is that a gnome?” and then they see the sign that says Inchgnome and they laugh at that."<br /><br />Scott has run sightseeing cruises on the Forth for 18 years, with trips running daily from Easter until October.<br /><br />During his time in the job, he says he has seen the gnome population mysteriously increase each winter - but says he has no idea how.<br /><br />He said: "Nobody knows how they got there, and nobody knows why they’re there – but they do seem to multiply every winter!"
