Stewie-- Kinney and I have talked this over (while sitting at Charlie Poole's "eating table"-- Rorrer is a collector of Poole memorabilia and other things) and he leans more to the conclusion that both Poole and Smith learned it from a common source and then modified it as they each sang it. From the notes to the Document CDs of "Walter 'Kid' Smith and Friends" it looks like everybody knew everybody else; everybody learned songs and tunes from everybody else, and nobody would feel quite comfortable if cited as the "source" for a song. Maybe certain topical verses. . . like in Man who Rode the Mule where Poole sings "I rode up on the line and got throwed off on a pine" -- Norm Woodlieff is quoted as saying THAT really happened to Poole. Which I can well believe.