Hearts in Baskethilts

[Jim McDougall]

Sounds like the Scottish version of Guns n' Roses! but seriously, wanted to get a discussion going on this topic. Over the years we've had Scottish basket hilts come up, and in a strong sense, they could fall broadly into either European or ethnographic headings.

Some years ago I noticed that the heart shape was often pierced in the saltires of many Scottish basket hilts and I became curious about whether this might have been a secret Jacobite symbol, and where might this symbol derive from.

Its been years since that research, but results were quite inconclusive. I'd like to hear ideas on this, and especially to see examples posted which have these hearts in the panels.