Glasgow businessman David Low has sold The Arlington, the iconic Glasgow pub he purchased three years ago, for an undisclosed sum to experienced operator Peter Di Ciacca, owner of Riva Restaurants.
The bar, which has been operated continuously on the same Woodlands Road site since 1860, is one of the city’s oldest surviving pubs and has a distinguished history as a favoured haunt of students and academics from neighbouring Glasgow University and a hangout for journalists, artists and writers.
Low, who helped broker the takeover of Celtic FC by Fergus McCann in 1994 to rescue the club from the brink of collapse, said: “I’ve always had an interest in Glasgow’s iconic bars, of which The Arlington is a fine example, but the time was right to move on and I’m delighted to pass on ownership to a seasoned operator who I’m sure will retain its distinctive character over the years ahead.”
Famous customers over the years have included Billy Connolly, Frankie Miller and The Clash. It also claims to be home to the Stone of Destiny, the seat upon which ancient kings of Scotland were crowned, since 1950, when a group of four Nationalist students – and Arlington regulars – re-possessed the historic artefact from Westminster Abbey and allegedly hid it in the pub.
According to pub legend the stone now on display at Perth Museum is a crude replica fashioned by the students, which they handed over to police when they were apprehended following the audacious raid.
The sale of the pub included the ‘Stone of Destiny’ – also known as the Stone of Scone – which will continue to be displayed prominently in a glass case in the bar for the continued enjoyment of customers and tourists.
Low, whose investment portfolio includes a significant holding in Scotland’s only cryptocurrency, Scotcoin, is chairman of the Three Thistles plc group of pubs which sold nearby The Dram to Di Ciacca this summer.
