I love 'ethno' research too!!!! mostly because of the company I'm in here, and no matter how much stuff I dig up on the topics....you guys find more, as you have shown here
I'm addicted to learning as much as I can, and here it never stops.
Good thinking on possibilities for 'gurade', and excellent call on the use of the shotel term in the 1831 book mentioned in Spring. This of course establishes a benchmark for known use of the term, and we can go from there. I look forward to hearing more on your findings on the term. I'm with you in hoping that Ron might add his observations on these terms as his unsurpassed study and knowledge on these weapons certainly has included this topic.
Thank you for the kind wishes, I'll keep it on the road!!!
All the best,
Jim