E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Dumps.
To be in the dumps. Out of spirits; in the “sullens.” According to etymological fable, it is derived from Dumops, King of Egypt, who built a pyramid and died of melancholy. Gay’s Third Pastoral is Wednesday, or the Dumps. (German, dumm, stupid, dull.)
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“Why, how now, daughter Katbarine? in your dumps?”—Shakespeare: Taming of the Shrew. ii. 1.
