brande

attested in medieval Latin in the form branda ('heather') and indirectly by its derivative brandey ('field of heather', 'place where heather grows' then 'heather'); hence, in 1653, the meaning of 'bundle of heather twigs, coated with a combustible substance'; from old French brander ('to blaze, ignite') because heather was easily flammable and fields were burned to fertilize them (see slash-and-burn).