This is an Illinois tune, collected from Pete Priest by Garry Harrison & Co in the 1970s or 80s. I've been hearing it at jams over in Champaign/Urbana for many months, and each time I loved it and asked what it's name was; "Run Down Boot" they would say. And each time when I got home I would think "what was that tune; something about a possum?" Well, I finally got the name and the tune fixed in my head. I was with a group that played it for a dance and apparently it is common to mess around with starting-and-stopping the tune without tripping up the dancers. That makes you learn a tune, I'll tell you. July, 21, 2010: I've added a fiddle version.