I see in Swordlover79's Sinclair sabre a clear example of the transition from the finger ring of the side sword to the 2 "sword catcher" bars of the later basket hilts. This theory that those bars were in fact just the remains of the earlier feature (much as vestigial finger rings remained on small swords) has long been one of the main contenders for an explanation and such a clear transition should go a long way to settling the debate.
Robert
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