ALAUNA, ALAUNUS, the Celtic names of two rivers, etc., in Roman Britain. Hence the modern Allan Water, river Alyn, etc. ALAVA, DON MIGUEL RICARDO DE Spanish general and statesman, was a member of the assembly at Bayonne in i8o8 which accepted Joseph Bonaparte as king of Spain, but shortly afterwards joined the national independent party which was fighting in alliance with the English.
He was Spanish commissary at Wellington's headquarters, and before the end of the campaign had risen to the rank of brigadier general. In 1815 he was ambassador at The Hague, and was present at the battle of Waterloo. He had served at Trafalgar on the flagship of his uncle, Admiral Alava, and was said to be the only man to have been present at both Trafalgar and Water loo. He was a deputy to the Cortes in 182o, and in 1822 fought in the militia to support the authority of the Cortes against the rebels.
Alava took part in the negotiations for the restoration of Ferdi nand, but was soon driven into exile. Returning to Spain after Ferdinand's death, he supported Maria Christina against Don Carlos, and was again sent abroad as ambassador, first to London (1834) and then to Paris (1835). He refused to take the oath to the Constitution of 1837, and died in exile at Bareges, France, in '843 Alava's name is repeatedly mentioned in the Duke of Wellington's correspondence.