Strap Button or Not

I have seen discussions on lap cloths and straps.

My dulcimer; aJohn Naylor '96 - doesn't have a button on it now and like many others, I do not want to put a hole in the instrument. I also don't want to have lap cloths hanging all over taking away the beauty of the dulcimer itself.

Question:

Do you think I could put a small padded clamp on the end for a strap and loop around the scroll up top, that way I would be able to have a strap but not put in a button and keeping the vintage look for when the dulcimer is older?

Would a clamp if tight enough to hold, hurt the dulcimer?

It looks like I could clamp on the sides of the end and not hurt the strings. Has anyone tried this?