Dinwiddie is an old and honorable name. This statement is meant to include the uncounted variations in spelling, some of the more frequently seen of which are Dunwoody, Dunwoodie, Dinwoody, Dinwiddy, and Dunwody. In old official documents the same man sometimes has his name spelled in more than one way. Consistency in spelling is a modern innovation.   The Dinwiddie's were a border clan, long chief proprietors in the parish of Applegarth, Anandale, Dumfries-shire. Their earliest known chief was Alleyn Dinwithie whose name is found on the roll of Scotsmen (for some unknown reason called "Ragman's Roll") who submitted on honorable terms to Edward I at the time of his invasion of Scotland in 1296. A later chief, Thomas, was killed in the Dinwiddie Tower by the Jardines in 1503, and the Jardines were credited with slaying the Laird of Dinwiddie in 1512 in the streets of Edinburgh. In 1547 the Laird of Dunwoody with forty-four followers was recorded as among those who gave allegiance to England.