It seems this is a pre-Culloden basket hilt which according to material found online is by Thomas Bigart of Irvine, as signed in accord with the manner of other Scottish smiths of the time on the hilt bars. It is estimated c.1730, and while Whitelaw only lists a David Bigart of Kilmaurs (same area) in 1681, it is well established that the Bigart family were important cutlers (but of tableware etc.) through the 17th c. in Kilmaurs. That cutlers often expanded their metalwork into hilting was well known in many cases and that Thomas was likely a family member in nearby Irvine and slightly later seems reasonable.
These letters seem to be applied in the same 'field' manner as many of the British weapons of the second half of the 18th c. The most commonly used convention in these markings with the Scottish units seems to have been
best described with one of the conical pommel basket hilts of the 42nd Highland Regt. on the pommel:
42/A/35
This is on one of the Drury swords and described as : to the 42nd regt. for the first (or 'colonels') company, and the 35th sword issued. It is estimated this would date this sword about 1758, as in 1759, a 2nd battalion was raised and since the first had used letters A to K as letters......those of the 2nd began with L. It is recorded that these swords were ordered to be 'numbered and lettered' accordingly.
With the intriguing example Neil has posted here, it has been suggested in other data I found online that this seems to have found later in the century use probably in the 1790s when the British were establishing what were known as 'fencible' units (from the term defensible, or militia/home defense). The suggestion continues that the sword was issued to the '1st Mounted Dragoons'; 2nd Co.; and the 93rd sword issued.
This seems quite reasonable as if I am not mistaken, by this time in the century, basket hilts were no longer issued to troopers in the regular army regiments, though they were carried of course by officers. Officers of course were not 'issued' weapons, so would not have been so marked.
The 'fencible' and 'yeomanry' regiments operated as militia and outside the normal parameters of regular army regulations and were privately regulated by the local governing of the areas in which they were raised. Therefore they were likely to have followed nominally some of the earlier conventions of the army regulations.
In the IMD, the 'I' looks more like a 'one' as there are no serifs, so more likely a number, and the 1st Mounted Dragoons seems plausible. However, 'mounted dragoons' sounds redundant....dragoons were of course mounted (though they typically fought on foot in earlier times).
The designation of the 'fencible' units it seems chose more 'colorful' titles but did not term themselves 'fencibles' (the only unit I know of that use that designation was the Breadalbane Fencibles). Therefore, 'Mounted Dragoons' may well have been used, but so far have not found record of such unit
This is the sum of what I could find, and my thoughts are speculatively placed as per the online data I found. Hopefully those better versed in these Scottish swords might have more definitive information.
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