Suggests the phrase "an entire stranger" that Dr. James Currie, Burns's first editor, used of himself in relation to Burns has been overblown by later Burnsians to belittle Currie's achievement; points out the range and duration of Currie's knowledge of Burns and contacts with Burns's friends and with south-west Scotland; and argues that a long-overlooked manuscript poem Burns gave to Currie in 1792 and a newly-acquired letter Currie wrote in 1794 add new information that could contribute to putting the famous phrase in better perspective.