In Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House," the character
Eleanor
hears the following:
Go walking through the valley,
Go walking through the valley,
Go walking through the valley,
As we have done before...

She thinks, Why I know that, smiling to the faint melody: we used to
play
that game.

Question:  What is the name of the song and is it a child's playground
game
or what???????????  I would like to incorporate it into a paper I'm
writing. I need the answer by Saturday, July 20th at the latest.

Hi desdaine,

It appears that this may be a regional variant (for a "valley" region)
on In and out the windows. The verse set-up appears to be the same as
the examples below. The Pig in the Parlor link calls the activity a
"play party game" or "singing game" and offers the following
description/explanation:

"Play party games, sometimes called singing games, are catchy little
tunes with lyrics and actions. Although common entertainment of today,
like dancing and card-playing, was looked upon with disapproval, play
party games were not. Usually every Saturday night someone would have
a play party and people would come from miles around by horseback or
wagon to attend. In the warm months they were held on the moonlit
dewey lawn and in the winter furniture was pushed back and carpets
rolled up to make room for as many as twenty or thirty people.

Besides a fun way to exercise, play parties offered a perfect chance
to meet a pretty girl or handsome boy or even begin a courtship. Some
games were just right for boy and girl friends and others for uneven
numbers and mixers. Some were kind of silly and some were quite
complicated. But all were, and still are, fun." (There's more
information at this link, so you may want to explore it more fully.)

We've got a pig in the parlor: A collection of Ozark play party games;
"Go in 'n' out the window"
http://198.209.8.166/sheproom/periodicals/bittersweet/fa78j.htm
(Includes directions for formattion, and additional actions.)

Bored No More: Frontier Games; "Round and Round the Village"
http://www.ach.uams.edu/parenting/spring96/bored_no_more.htm
(Includes directions for how to do the circle weaving for this game.)

Rings and Dances; "In and out the Windows"
http://www.firebirdtrust.sagenet.co.uk/singingrings/rings.html
(Includes a brief sound clip so you can hear the tune)

Books to Grow On: Opposites; "Go in and Out the Windows"
http://www.kcls.org/webkids/btgo/themeopposites.html

For additional information:
"play party games"
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=%22play+party+game%22

"pioneer games"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22pioneer+games%22

I hope this helps and gets you on your way for your paper!

SEARCH STRATEGY:
"as we have done before" game
"play party games"
"pioneer games"

Don't forget to cite your online sources for your paper. If you need
help with that, you can use the guides at Purdue University's OWL
(Online Writing Lab).

MLA Format
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html
APA Format
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_apa.html

Regards,
readersguide

I am dazzled.  Please ensure that the researcher receives my thanks. 
The timely response (with links, no less) has enabled me to complete a
much needed thesis statement for a paper. The researcher was even kind
enough to throw in a link to MLA documentation.  Just great service!