I have been looking for this songs origins my whole life! My mother used to sing it to us, but slightly different from the versions here:

In de valley, in de vinter-time,
Ven de vin' vhistles through de vind-mills,
An' de vimmen, in de vaud-e-vil
Ride veloc'pede in de vestibule,
Ah, vimmens!
Ah, mens!

Born around 1906, she sang us WW 1 tunes and other early 1900's tunes (Collegiate, The Walloping Willoughby...etc,)

Has anyone ever heard the following:

Ever since I was a little girl so high,
Heaven seemed to be so far up in the sky,
Little did I know that it was here on earth,
In the very land that gave me birth.
(chorus)
Oh, the sun shines bright,
On the fields of white,
And the birds make music all day,
I mean, away down south in Dixie...
(my memory gets sketchy here).. Dixie, my home...
and more - whipoorwills in distant hills and such... my memory fails me