Galoot,

Sir Ralph Lane was the Muster Master General of Ireland from January 1592 until his death in 1603. He is the same famous Ralph Lane who had been the governor of the failed Roanoke Island colony in Virginia.   He is said to be the man who introduced tobacco to England, although there is no proof of this. A personal friend of Sir Walter Raleigh, a good and loyal servant of the Queen, and a well-connected petty nobleman (his father was a knight and his mother a cousin of Catherine Parr), he continued to be given responsible positions despite his failure in Virginia.

As muster master, Lane was responsible for mustering, inspecting, equipping, and paying the Queen's troops in Ireland, and he took part in actions himself. He was badly wounded in an uprising in 1594 (I don't know if it was one of McHugh's, but it may have been the same one in which they burned Pierce FitzGerald of Kildare). Lane never fully recovered from his wounds, and didn't do his job very well from then until his death, which contributed to the continuing success of small rebellions in Ireland. Indeed, Elizabeth wrote to her treasurer in 1596:

And for you our Treasurer, of all other, we see nothing but great sums expended, and no good nor timely certificates how they are issued, but in generalities, with accompts of idle and particular charges, wherein we find large allowances made to yourselves by yourselves in all things. And for the musters (of which let Ralph Lane be sharply warned) either we have none, or such as we assure you it is ridiculous to the world to hear what an army we pay, and yet what an army we have.

Again, since this is a fictional or legendary raid, essentially the narrator is imagining a path to victory, which in 1592 would include putting Lane and his troops to flight.