Treasure Island (originally The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys)is an  adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a  tale of "buccaneers and buried gold". It was serialized from 1881 to  1882. Its influence has been popular on perceptions of pirates,  including such elements as treasure maps marked with an "X", schooners,  the Black Spot, tropical islands, and one-legged seamen bearing parrots  on their shoulders