I have a cheap old balalaika (given to my ex-sister-in-law by a Russian sailor at Newport Docks - don't ask!) and the machine heads are exactly as you describe. Having had little use, they still function fairly well. If the assembly is any use to you, I can remove it. Let me know. That's a lovely version of the Cossack Lullaby. The song is one of my favourites and I've been singing it for years to a slight variant of that tune. The words are a poem by Mikhail Lermontov, and the beautiful soft lullaby sound hides true Cossack attitudes. I think the mother's sadness comes through in the singing. The best translation I have come across is: COSSACK LULLABY (from M Lermantov) Sleep, my lovely baby, lullaby. Quietly the bright moon looks into your cradle. I shall tell you stories and sing you a song; So shut your little eyes and doze, lullaby. The Terek is flowing over the stones, its turbid waves lapping; The wicked Chechen creeps up the river bank, and sharpens his dagger; But your father is a veteran warrior, tried in battle; Sleep, my baby, have no fear, lullaby. The time will come, you will get to know for yourself the soldier's way of life; Boldly you will put your foot into the stirrup and take up your gun. I shall embroider your war-saddle with silk... Sleep, my darling child, lullaby. You will be a fine fellow to look at and a Cossack at heart. I shall come out to see you off, and you will wave goodbye. How many bitter tears I shall shed that night in secret! Sleep my angel, quietly, sweetly, lullaby. I shall pine and wait for you disconsolately; I shall pray the whole day long, and try to foretell the future at night; I shall think that you are fretting in a foreign land... So sleep, whille you know no care, lullaby. I shall give you a little holy icon for your journey; Put it before you when you pray to God; And, when you prepare for a dangerous battle, remember your mother... Sleep, my lovely baby, lullaby. Phil
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