Paul, if lines were bent to the sheer poles, this would probably have been done using the tails of the line. The excess would first have been made up into coils, a length of the tail end then wrapped around the coils on their upper end, forming a sort of eye, through which the tail will have been passed. The length of the tail will have been long enough to form at least a clove hitch by which to bend it to the pole, but probably a little more to allow a constrictor hitch, or safety turns in addition to a clove hitch.
However, if carelessly/haphazardly bent to the pole, this could also have led to several of these made-up coils dangling and swinging freely if the pole was fitted much higher than the cap/roughtree rail. This would have imposed a significant hazard for the crew when stepping into the ratlines? This could be somewhat mitigated by bending them onto, or even around the shroud, near where the poles crossed them, leaving the parts between the shrouds clear to access/step-on? Hope this helps?
BANYAN's post in how to secure a rope hank to the sheer poles? was marked as the answer