Curse you Urbanspaceman, I'm a big C17th nerd and I hadn't thought of this. Now it's bugging me.
I had thought that why in England are the so-called Hounslow hangers the only mid C17th British swords with curved blades, the basket hilts with 'Turkie' or 'semetry' blades recommended for 1630s militia notwithstanding, though I have only seen one surviving C17th Turcael and that's Royal Armouries No IX. 1015.
My theory is that the hangers were hunting swords, whose shape continued into the C20th. The staghorn grips and sawback blade on some reflecting their supposed use in dismembering deer etc. Their hilts are only seen in ornate forms, with chiselled and / or black and silver hilts, never in munition quality, so possibly carried by militia and trained bands officers and then becoming more widespread in the 1640s.
I have three, one with staghorn grip, one with a fluted bone grip and one with a wood(?) wrapped grip.
That's my pet theory anyway.
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