Scotland started positively, making the most of the territory gifted to them by an aimless kick by Aitchison and an undercooked clearance by Helena Rowland.
McGhie, coming off her wing, sat down an England forward with sheer velocity, before Evie Gallagher made yards.
Awarded the penalty, central and at short range, Nelson took the points to give her side an early lead after four minutes.
Yet England took little time to bust out of the attempted chokehold. After Rosie Galligan and Meg Jones put England on the front foot, prop Clifford burrowed over for the first try after 12 minutes.
After a couple of sighters, Aitchison found her range with the boot, putting Scotland back on their own line with a deft dribble into touch.
Lana Skeldon’s throw spilled out of the line-out and England gratefully gobbled up the scraps, with Galligan going close before Talling, with Sadia Kabeya bound on to provide some extra horsepower, crossed close to the posts to make it 14-3.
The wet weather was an awkward accompaniment to her playmaking game, but Aitchison, preferred to Zoe Harrison at fly-half, sent a pass out to Dow for the wing’s landmark score.
With usual full-back Ellie Kildunne banging a drum on the bench as part of England’s in-house backing band, Rowland also grew into the game with one sublime running line off Jones taking out Scotland’s Lloyd and Chloe Rollie.
Scotland kept fighting.
Centre Emma Orr scragged Dow with a stretching cover tackle as the England wing bore down on the line after a charge down. A period of pressure early in the second half brought chants of “Scotland, Scotland” from the stands. Nelson’s cute chip over the England defence bought territory in style.