Black dog of depression?

[elv1s]

Does anyone know the earliest origins of the term 'black dog' being used to describe or refer to depression. I know that Winston Churchill and Samuel Johnson both used it in this context and that it has been traced back to Horace, but wondered if anyone out there has any more information on the derivation of this phrase? Thank you for any help.

[Quizmonster]

Here's a quote from a website on the subject. It takes you back to Horace and offers an explanation of how it arose in his times.

 

"Black dog. Depression or sullen mood - an expression with extremely old origins; the clich� was made famous in recent times by Britain's WWII leader Sir Winston Churchill referring to his own depressions. The 1800's version of the expression was 'a black dog has walked over him/me' to describe being in a state of mental depression (Brewer 1870), which dates back to the myth described by Horace (Roman poet and satirist, aka Quintus Horatius Flaccus, 65-8 BC) in which the sight of a black dog with pups was an unlucky omen. Contributing also to the meaning of the clich�, black dogs have have for centuries been fiendish and threatening symbols in the superstitions and folklore of various cultures.