BRAND SUNDAY, Dimanche des Brandons, in French ecclesiastical writers, denotes the first Sunday in Lent, which is thus called on account of an ancient practice in the Lyonnais, where the peasants walked by night about their orchards and gardens with lighted torches or fire-brands in their hands; visiting every tree, addressing each one in turn, and threatening that if it did not bear well the ensuing season it should be cut down and burnt. This custom prevailed in many places till the middle of the seventeenth century. It was evidently a relic of paganism, akin to the ancient Lupercalia, or shepherd-festival, which was celebrated on the 15th of February, Februarius, i.e. the month of purification.